NEWTON COUNTY— The Newton County Board of Commissioners heard an update on the Joint Development Authority (JDA) of Newton, Jasper, Morgan and Walton Counties at their regular meeting on March 17. 

Serra Hall, executive director of the Newton County Industrial Development Authority, and District 1 Commissioner Stan Edwards, who sits on the JDA for the county, presented the updates. 

Hall shared that the Rivian plant in Stanton Springs North is still under construction and plans to ramp up over the spring and summer. Stanton Springs South houses Takeda Pharmaceuticals and two of Meta’s data centers. She noted that both Meta sites are now complete. 

“We’ll see an increase of PILOT payments coming in their direction,” Hall said. 

Edwards shared the breakdown for how each of the four counties in the JDA receives revenues. He said Newton County and Walton County each received 37.5% of revenue. Morgan County receives 15%, and Jasper County receives 10%, currently, but the percentages may change with Stanton Springs North. Hall said the portions are based on what each county put into the JDA initially.

As of Dec. 31, 2025, Stanton Springs has generated more than $54 million in revenue, which has been dispersed to the four counties, Edwards shared.

This revenue comes from PILOT payments from Meta and Rivian, plus property taxes from Takeda.

“For Newton County, that total comes to $20,149,913,” Edwards said. “...That’s the 37.5%.”

The amount portioned for Newton County is then split between the Newton County Board of Education and the Newton County Government (via the board of commissioners). The board of education has received $7,987,121, while the county government has received $12,162,292.

Initially, the funds only went to the county governments. Now, 58% of Newton County’s revenue is allocated to the board of education.

“Now that math is not correct because there was some funds shared with the counties only in the beginning, I believe,” Edwards said, speaking on why the county government’s revenue is larger than the school system’s when they have a smaller allocation.

Edwards said the county government has been putting the revenue into its general fund budget since 2021.

District 4 Commissioner J.C. Henderson expressed concern about the revenue going to the general fund. He said that taxpayers may not feel like they are truly receiving tax relief from the sites, as they continue to see rising taxes.

Henderson asserted that he believed the original design of the JDA revenue was not for it to go into the general fund.

“It was my understanding back then—maybe I’m just getting old—it was those monies from the Joint Development Authority was supposed to go back and help the taxpayers pay taxes, pay on the taxes, bring down the taxes, and it never did,” Henderson said. “...I just hate I’m the only person up here in the county to talk about it. And I can’t forget it.”

Henderson said that if the money comes in, it should be put in a separate account and used when needed. But Edwards said the money should not go to “new projects,” but fund the services the community’s tax dollars are used for. 

Edwards said that putting the collections into the general fund is taxpayer relief, as it is the main source of funding for the county’s expenditures. 

“If there is an increase in taxes, the increase in that tax would have been much more if it had not been for these funds,” Edwards said. “So it is going back in the taxpayers' pockets. It’s going to help fund our annual budget, since 2021.” 

District 5 Commissioner LeAnne Long recommended publishing the amount of revenue “out where everybody can find it,” showing citizens how the income has funded a budget that otherwise may have relied more heavily on tax dollars.

“I would like to see these numbers in writing somewhere so when we have statements like that that come up, we can show people that it did go to the bottom line, it did go,” Long said. “...where those funds went, and how we offset the millage rate by these funds.”

With Henderson and Edwards voicing their disagreement, Henderson suggested that the pair have a debate. Edwards said that while he would personally like it if land remained “woods and cows and pastures,” rural residential properties do not generate as much revenue for the county as the industrial park does. 

News Editor Kate Verity contributed to this report.