Comments on: West Fraser Announces $70.25 Million Expansion In McDavid Following Tax Break Approval

By: taxpayer

taxpayer — Mon, 11 May 2026 19:58:52 +0000

Note: tax break = money saved

By: David Huie Green

David Huie Green — Mon, 11 May 2026 06:11:26 +0000

REGARDING:
“businesses aren’t taxed enough”

How do you determine how much is enough? too much? too little?
Most people think: “They just need to pay more,” without having any way of determining how much more and why.

By: Give me a break

Give me a break — Sun, 10 May 2026 22:38:32 +0000

And think about the fact that a company thinks enough of the potential of the area to meet the demand for a product that our area can provide that they are willing to invest that much money in an expansion.

Don’t you understand that they will be advocating for maintaining our forest acreage to supply this expansion?

They will be advocating to preserve the rural, forest biome that led them to commit to this investment.

This type of agreement helps maintain the very things we hold dear about North Escambia — open space, timber, agriculture, and industry. It’s a win for us.

By: Cb

Cb — Sun, 10 May 2026 16:45:48 +0000

@derek businesses aren’t taxed enough

By: derek

derek — Sun, 10 May 2026 00:53:55 +0000

I am glad the county allowed a tax break for this company! As a whole, businesses are overtaxed! Any property taxes not accessed will be multiplied by 100 times because new employees build homes, pay state and county taxes and even better they support small businesses and restaurants. This is the fundamental difference between political parties in this country! Good Work Escambia County!

By: rd

rd — Sat, 09 May 2026 19:53:10 +0000

@Nick…Fire Protection is a non-ad valorem assessment and is not covered. West Fraser paid $11,996,034 on their 2025 Tax Collector bill for fire protection.

By: JD

JD — Sat, 09 May 2026 19:37:02 +0000

Very fuzzy math on this one for some 20’s range per hour jobs skilled labor. I applied for job here awhile ago. We get charged premium price for everything so premium pay is nice too. County is losing on this one.

By: Nick

Nick — Sat, 09 May 2026 17:23:12 +0000

The county says this $590,969 tax break will help bring 30 jobs to the area, but it also means West Fraser will pay much less in property taxes for several years.That tax money would normally help pay for things like roads, fire departments, emergency services, and other local infrastructure. Instead of collecting the full amount from a large corporation, the county is choosing to reduce that revenue and hope the expansion benefits the area later on. This can hurt local communities because regular residents and small businesses still have to pay their full taxes while county services may receive less funding in the meantime.

By: Rob

Rob — Sat, 09 May 2026 14:10:18 +0000

That’s a lot of taxpayer’s dollars going towards 30 jobs that pay about $24 per hour.