The town has its first agreement through a new economic mechanism meant to spur business development in South Berwick, the participating business a furniture maker that formerly operated in Rollinsford.
The 8-year Credit Enhancement Agreement was signed with Redbird Properties, which operates as PKS Woodworking in the Punkintown area and specializes in producing products using lumber harvested in Southern Maine.
The agreement will mean savings for the company with no cost to taxpayers, DeCarlo Brown, town planner and economic development director, told the Town Council at the June 24 meeting.
As a business in two overlapping Tax Increment Financing districts, Redbird was offered a credit enhancement agreement that allows it to be reimbursed for a portion of the added taxes collected by the town based on the property value it brings to the town. The agreement allows the town to return tax funds to businesses that raise the value of property in that district by at least $1 million, said Brown.
South Berwick has two TIF districts – the TIF Transit District that runs along Route 236 and through the downtown and the TIF district in the Punkintown area on Route 236. The council accepted the so-called CEA program in February, allowing new and existing businesses that make improvements in those areas to seek these agreements
The agreements can help create new jobs at new companies or keep and expand jobs at existing businesses within TIF districts, Brown told the council in February.
In March, the Town Council voted to allow Town Manager Tim Pellerin to enter into negotiations on a potential credit enhancement agreement with Kent Scovill of PKS Woodworks, located within both the Punkintown Road and CMP Corridor Omnibus TIF districts.
Brown re-emphasized this week that each agreement “is unique,” although no company can get more than 75% of taxes reimbursed, according to state law. South Berwick councilors agreed that no company here can get more than 50% and no more than $10,000 a year returned. Redbird has an 8-year agreement that allows the company to be reimbursed for 50% of its taxes.
“These monies are not coming from our own coffers, they are a reimbursement of a portion of taxes already paid by the business,” Brown noted. To receive such reimbursements, companies with agreements must first pay their taxes in full, he noted.
While towns can keep 100% of the property taxes generated by the value of new businesses or improvements to existing property in TIF districts, they may do so for no longer than 30 years, and a credit enhancement agreement may not last longer than the TIF, according to Brown.
In other business:
- Councilors voted to award its 2025 Spirit of America award to SoBo Central, the nonprofit umbrella organization for Hot Summer Nights, the Common Ground Sister City program; Friends of Powderhouse Hill; SoBo Cares; the Fuel Fund; the Community Food Pantry; Home for the Holidays; Lanternfest, and the South Berwick Reporter. The award will be presented to SoBo Central at the 2026 annual Town Meeting.
- The council is considering a request from the Historic District Commission to change its meeting time from 6 to 7 p.m.
- Finally, council Chair Mallory Cook presented outgoing Town Councilor Bill Cole with a plaque of appreciation. “I’ve enjoyed being of service to the town,” said Cole, who has also served on the town’s Planning Board. “To me, I will always be a former South Berwick resident.”
