Last week a Canadian company requested a 12-year tax-stabilization plan for a cement-distribution facility it wants to build on land controlled by the Port of Providence.
It is unclear at the moment just how large the facility will be, but McInnis Cement intends to make the site a regional transfer center for its products.
Of course, until the company actually puts shovels into the ground and starts its operations there, the plan is just that. What happens next is up to City Council, which has to act on the TSA request. Past practice and reputation, however, do not make approval of the request a slam dunk, despite the appropriate use of the industrial property at the city's industrial port.
For instance, also last week, Thumbtack, an online marketplace for business and consumer-service providers, named Providence one of the least-friendly cities to small business in its fourth annual survey on the topic. Among the grades given by the more than 200 small-business owners who responded, Providence received a D+ for licensing, tax code and zoning.
Now, the city recently enacted reforms to its tax-stabilization regime, including introducing administrative TSAs for the former Interstate 195 land as well as the Capital Center district. But this proposed cement-distribution center lies outside those districts, which means that City Council must act on the request. How well it performs on the task – asking good questions but coming to a swift resolution – will say a lot about whether the city is truly intent on becoming a better place to do business. •