BY STACIE LETT CAIN

The Statesville City Council voted unanimously Monday to offer a cabinet manufacturer from the Midwest a $202,119 economic incentive to build a manufacturing plant in Statesville.

Dura Supreme LLC, a custom cabinet maker with facilities in Minnesota and Iowa, is interested in building a manufacturing facility that would create between 115 and 237 jobs in Statesville.

The company’s investment in the proposed Statesville plant is estimated at $17.4 million. The incentives approved by the Statesville Council would be over five years.

According to Chad Thomas, vice president of economic development for the Iredell County Economic Development Corporation, the company was founded in Minnesota in 1954 by Don Stotts, who began the company in his garage after serving as a Navy Seabee. His son, Keith Stotts, grew the company’s Howard Lake, Minn., through 10 facility expansions to 220,000 square feet. That plant employs over 400 people.

The Iredell County Board of Commissioners was expected to approve additional incentives for Dura Supreme during its meeting Tuesday night.

Road Closures

The council also voted unanimously to permanently close portions of Durham Avenue, Raleigh Avenue, Tenth Street, Eleventh Street, Alley 1 and Alley 2. There is nothing currently built on the sites and the property is already owned by the City of Statesville. There are plans to build a warehouse at that location. The council vote was unanimous.

Annual Financial Report

The council also received its Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022, from Martin Starnes & Associates. The city’s revenue exceeded expenditures by $479,000, with revenue increasing by $1 million or 3 percent. The city’s ad valorem tax, its largest revenue stream, increased by 3.4 percent or $640,000.

The city increased its expenditure on Public Safety by $958,000. This increase was due to increases in police and fire salaries. 

Juneteenth Holiday 

The council decided to postpone acting on a request to make Juneteenth a paid holiday for city employees.

Councilman Steve Johnson expressed concern about approving the request, considering the timing of the ask.

“Just a couple of weeks ago, citizens of Statesville received a little notice in the mail about their property tax valuation,” he explained. “City Manager Ron Smith estimates that the increase is nearly 30 percent, and I don’t see how we increase property taxes by 30 percent and then tell people, ‘By the way, we are also going to pay ourselves for another holiday.’ ”

Noting that residents will likely be watching city expenses even closer now with the increase in taxes they will be paying, Johnson said residents work hard to pay those taxes and may not be in agreement to pay others not to work on another designated holiday.

“For working folks out there, this situation wouldn’t sit too well,” Johnson said. “I think we need to be showing them some effort that we are going to give them some tax relief before we approve any more paid holidays.”

Mayor Costi Kutteh asked city staff to include the holiday request when working on next year’s budget.

“Rather than deciding this right now when we aren’t sure how the property tax situation will play out, I would encourage you to put that as an item in next year’s budget discussions,” Kutteh said.