No Taxes With World Color Transfer
Tuesday, November 20, 2007

By Matthew Barba
Sentinel News Staff—Centralia, IL
11/20/07

SALEM - SeedAmerica, the non-profit organization that is the new owner of the World Color Press plant in Salem, will continue paying property taxes on the building.

SeedAmerica's plan for the World Color plant on Selmaville Road is to rehabilitate the facility and market it to potential tenants. The marketing process could take up to several months, but SeedAmerica has seen tenants occupy in as little as 45 days.

Chris Zimmerman, president of the Asset Management Division of SeedAmerica, stated, "SeedAmerica or the tenant is still responsible for paying property taxes."

This is good news for the city of Salem and its residents who saw a huge decrease in sales tax revenue when the plant closed and almost 900 jobs in the area were lost.

The general perception that non-profit automatically implies tax-exemption is something that city officials want to dispel. SeedAmerica is non-profit in that they have no shareholders to which profits from business transactions go. Instead, the money that is generated as revenue for the organization is put back into an endowment fund for further economic development.

Thomas Christie, Salem city manager, said, "In Illinois, the rules for a 501(c)3 group to be exempt from paying taxes are strict. SeedAmerica does not meet the necessary requirements, and they will continue to pay taxes on the property."

Property taxes for the plant's three parcels of taxable land are approximately $210,000.  Taxes are split up between county, city and other destinations, like high schools; the city receives about $23,240 of the total property tax.

The property, which has been described as an "eyesore" in the community, will experience a "new awakening" according to Christie. The city is proud to have SeedAmerica involved in the project to develop the community, and they expect to see benefits from the deal soon.

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