Some of the same incentives that helped convince Banfield Pet Hospital to move its corporate headquarters from Portland to Vancouver may be made available to other businesses.
Proposed changes to Vancouver’s city codes target large employers such as Banfield that offer salaries higher than the local median annual wage.
Under the proposed city ordinances, business license surcharge fees would be waived and traffic impact fees would be reduced for companies with 200 or more employees that pay higher-than-median salaries.
A public hearing will be 7 p.m. Monday at City Hall, 415 W. Sixth St.
The incentives are intended to make the city “more competitive in attracting companies that have a large number of employees and high median wages,” City Manager Eric Holmes wrote in a report to the city council.
Chad Eiken, the city’s director of community and economic development, told councilors in May that adding incentives to city ordinances would give his staff more tools when negotiating with prospective business owners.
The council has had two workshops on the economic development incentives, and at Monday’s meeting the ordinances were approved to be set for public hearing.
The current median individual income for the Portland-Vancouver Metropolitan Statistical Area is $48,580, Eiken said.
The ordinances cap the amount of money that can be waived per project, require the businesses to sign a development agreement with the city and has a tiered schedule so bigger businesses get the greatest benefit.
For example, a business that has 200 or more employees and median salary of at least 200 percent of the regional median income could qualify for a 25 percent reduction in traffic impact fees, up to $100,000. A business with 600 or more employees and a median salary at least 125 percent of the regional median income could have its traffic impact fees reduced by 50 percent, up to $200,000.
A waiver of business license fee surcharges would be capped at $20,000 annually.
When the city waives fees for businesses, the public picks up a greater share of the cost of growth. Impacts on the city’s general fund are anticipated to be temporary, though, “due to projected increases in sales, property and utility tax revenue,” Holmes wrote.
“Although smaller businesses also create positive economic benefits to the community, this incentive is targeted at larger companies that bring the largest monetary benefit to the city,” Holmes wrote.
Banfield, the largest private veterinary practice in the United States with 800 clinics in PetSmart stores, has approximately 560 headquarters employees and projects to grow to 670 employees in five years and to 950 employees in 15 years.
Data on Banfield salaries were not available, but the company’s wage/benefits package averages $126,000 per employee, Eiken said.
The new headquarters will open in 2015 on Mill Plain Boulevard and Southeast 184th Avenue.
Eiken told the council in May that Banfield will generate $14.2 million in new tax revenues in the next 15 years for the state, city, Evergreen Public Schools and smaller taxing districts.
