Lansing — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a $1.3 billion supplemental spending plan Wednesday that directs nearly half of the total appropriation toward a Ford Motor Co. development in Calhoun County.
The law will direct about $630 million for the preparation of Marshall area farmland for the battery plant mega site, bringing Ford’s total in incentives for the $3.5 billion project up to $1.6 billion in state and local taxpayer aid.
Whitmer said she was grateful lawmakers came together to pass the legislation.
“Today, I’m proud to sign a supplemental package that will create 2,500 good-paying jobs in Marshall, improve infrastructure, grow our healthcare workforce, and so much more!” Whitmer said on social media.
Besides the incentives for Ford, the spending bill includes about $170 million for the state’s business incentive fund; $75 million for health care worker recruitment and retention; $67 million for nursing home workforce grants; and $60 million for community center grants.
The bill also includes $10 million for community violence intervention grants and $1 million for economic development statewide planning.
Four Republican members crossed the aisle and voted in favor of the budget in the House. In turn, House Republicans said, the governor’s administration agreed to changes to delivery and installation sales tax policy, sales and use tax deductions for industrial processing for aggregates and statutory changes to the Michigan Strategic Fund board allowing more legislative representation from the minority caucus.
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Ford officials announced last month that they expected to invest $3.5 billion to construct the Blue Oval Battery Park Michigan in Marshall through a wholly owned subsidiary for Ford.
The plant will employ 2,500 people with pay ranging from $20 to $50 an hour, with average annual wages coming in at $45,000.
Under the deal, Ford will license battery technology from Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd., or CATL, the world’s leading LFP battery maker, but CATL will not receive tax incentives. The involvement of a Chinese-owned CATL in the project has raised concerns among Republican lawmakers objecting to the company benefiting from the Ford deal.
In addition to the $630 million the Marshall site will receive through the budget signed Wednesday, Ford also is in line to receive about $772 million in real and personal property tax abatement for 15 years and $210 million in business incentive funds.
Staff writer Craig Mauger contributed.
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