By Matt Sepic, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – Tax incentives aimed at keeping the Ford plant open in Hazelwood could total about $17 million.
At a news conference Monday formally announcing the plant will stay open, St. Louis County Executive Buzz Westfall said the City of Hazelwood and the county may offer Ford $8 million on top of the state's package, "Our contribution locally will be for future investment by Ford. If they don't' make the investment, they don't get the tax abatement. This is only future tax revenue that we wouldn't get anyway if they weren't here. So the fact that they stay here and invest the money I'm perfectly willing to give them that sort of an incentive."
The state is offering its own tax credits, and will also pay for job training. Meantime, Ford executive vice president Jim Padilla said the plant could operate on a single shift next year, but a union spokesman says that is not certain.