Feb. 16, 2022 9:40p
From WGTD News and The Associated Press:
Amid skepticism that Foxconn in Mt. Pleasant will fulfill its obligations, Racine County and Mt. Pleasant have established a public website that monitors the company’s progress. The website will be formally rolled out at a joint meeting next Tuesday of the Mt. Pleasant Village Board and the Racine County Board. The agenda for the meeting also includes a staff update on the condition of the Tax Incremental Financing District that covered the publically-financed improvements that made Foxconn possible. The website includes information on the assessed valuation of the Foxconn campus. That’s important because Foxconn is to begin paying taxes on $1.4 billion of assessed value in 2023, regardless of whether that benchmark has been met. The site also tracks job growth. Late last year, the state forwarded the maximum amount of tax credits in part because Foxconn has created 579 jobs. Foxconn initially said it would create as many 13,000 jobs. But that estimate was eventually downgraded.
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Republican Sen. Ron Johnson's opposition to President Joe Biden's judicial nominee in Wisconsin has surprised Democrats and is providing the latest test to the Senate tradition of letting home state senators block district court judges from advancing. William S. Pocan, a trial court judge in Milwaukee County and a Kenosha native, was scheduled to testify at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday. But those plans were scuttled after Johnson said he could not support Pocan, and he looked forward to working with Biden on selecting a suitable replacement. The White House and Democrats point out that Johnson actually had included Pocan among four candidates that he could support back in June. William Pocan is the brother of Mark Pocan, a Democrat from Madison who serves in the House of Representatives. William Pocan is a 1981 UW-Parkside graduate.
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The Kenosha County Board approved a plan Wednesday night to move what’s commonly referred to as the Job Center on South Sheridan Road to Sun Plaza off of 52nd St. The vote was unanimous. Support had been requested by Public Works Committee chair Bill Grady. "The idea is to be able to move from a facility that has really outlived its usefulness to an area downtown which I think will stimulate revitalization," he said. "It has to be done at some point. I think this is a pretty good deal from our perspective." Sun Plaza is a strip mall that’s adjacent to Kenosha Unified’s Educational Support Center. The county is working with Bear Development. The company will retain ownership of Sun Plaza for the next five years, and then sell the office complex to the county. Displaced existing commercial tenants are expected to be offered new space on the property.
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