Westborough Voters OK Tax Deals for Two Companies

Westborough voters Tuesday night granted two businesses 15-year tax breaks as incentives for bringing an estimated total $1.6 million in additional taxes, and 83 total new jobs, here over that period.

The voters at the special town meeting nearly unanimously approved the tax increment financing agreements for MicroChem Inc. and Danafilms Inc. The votes also allow selectmen to create an economic opportunity area for both businesses.

The session in the auditorium lasted about 75 minutes. The proposed tax deals, which start next July 1, were the only warrant articles.

Selectmen will finalize the paperwork on the agreements at their next meeting, for submitting to the state, Town Manager Jim Malloy has said. Both firms would seek state investment tax credits, estimated at $460,000 for MicroChem and $400,000 for Danafilms.

MicroChem's tax increment financing deal would bring an estimated $1.3 million to $1.5 million in addtional taxes, as well as 63 new jobs, to Westborough, Malloy said during his presentation to voters.

MicroChem, currently in Newton, would buy 200 Flanders Road and make "a significant investment" in the site, President and CEO Jay Cole said. Malloy estimated the firm's total investment at $13 million.

MicroChem, which specializes in "chemistry for the microelectronics marketplace," seeks to expand, and "we feel that the Flanders Road facility really fits the bill for us," Cole said.

Meanwhile, Danafilms consultant Rod Jane said his employer's parent company is considering two sites for a roughly 20,000-square-foot expansion: 5 Otis St. in Westborough, and a location in Kentucky.

If the Westborough site is chosen, 62 full-time jobs would be retained, Jane said. Malloy said 20 more would be added under the TIF.

Malloy estimated the tax deal would generate $147,787 in additional taxes for the town. Danafilms would make an estimated total investment of $6.7 million, he said.