A Swiss firm is investing so much in its North Charleston manufacturing campus that its property tax breaks could hit levels usually reserved for companies like Boeing and Volvo Cars.
SHL Medical, which makes automated drug injection devices, said it will spend $150 million on its Palmetto Commerce Park site. That type of investment puts the project at what South Carolina law calls a “super fee” level, making it eligible for far greater tax breaks than many manufacturers can get.
South Carolina’s business tax rate is 10.5 percent of a property’s assessed value, but state law lets counties reduce that to 6 percent for manufacturers and others that ask to pay an annual fee instead of a standard property tax bill.
If a company spends at least $150 million on its project, it can qualify for an annual charge equal to just 4 percent — the so-called super fee — of its assessed property value.
The 165 jobs created by the new campus also exceeds the 125 minimum required for super fee status.
SHL initially expected to spend $90 million on its Charleston County plant but told officials late last year that its five-year investment will actually top the $150 million minimum required for super fee status.
Last week, County Council’s finance committee approved without discussion dropping SHL’s annual tax fee to 4 percent from its previous 6 percent rate for a 30-year period.
The full council must still approve the tax break, which is expected to be reviewed at its May 23 meeting.
An SHL spokesperson could not be reached for comment. Ulrich Faessler, the company’s chairman and CEO, said when the project was announced that demand for the firm’s products spurred the need for a U.S. manufacturing site. Operations are expected to begin in the first half of next year. SHL also is building a plant in Switzerland.
“This expansion signifies SHL’s pledge to our advanced manufacturing strategy that will support our sustainability goals and, at the same time, risk-mitigate supply chain disturbances through closer production with our customers, in light of various global events from the past two years,” Faessler said. “This further supports our customers with one-stop-shop capabilities, providing high-quality drug delivery systems to the end-users — the patients.”
Steve Dykes, the county’s economic development director, said in a note to elected officials that SHL “has been a dynamic addition to the evolving life sciences sector here in Charleston,” with jobs paying an average of $93,512 per year.
