Local Wisconsin officials open to changing Foxconn deal

MOUNT PLEASANT, Wis. (AP) — Local officials in southeast Wisconsin where Foxconn Technology Group is building a manufacturing facility are looking into renegotiate their contract with the world’s leading electronics provider after the state recently finalized a new downsized agreement to reflect the scaled back project.

The state’s new contract with Foxconn makes $80 million in tax breaks available, down from nearly $3 billion in the the original 2017 deal that envisioned a substantially larger manufacturing facility near the Illinois border.

Mount Pleasant Village President Dave DeGroot said last week that “everything is on the table” when it comes to local agreements with Foxconn.

Local governments have already spent about $300 million on land acquisitions road construction, sewer and water infrastructure for Foxconn.

Under the local development agreement, Foxconn is currently paying $5 million a year in property taxes and that is set to increase to $30 million in 2023 until 2047.

On Monday, Mount Pleasant and Racine County sent a joint statement that reads in part, “At this point, no changes to the local development agreement have been proposed or contemplated.”

But when DeGroot was asked later about it by WTMJ, he said, “Everything’s on the table… I can’t talk to you about it though.”

Mount Pleasant and Racine County said in a statement that “Village and County leaders and principals at Foxconn have committed, in the coming weeks, to discuss mutually beneficial efforts to realize the vision in the Development Agreement and spur development.”