Tax-free revenue bonds geared to make it easier for business and industry to expand after Hurricane Katrina will help International Paper with equipment repairs and buying new equipment.

Four Warren County supervisors meeting Monday agreed to be the conduit for the expansion by approving $20 million in industrial revenue bonds. Two resolutions were passed – a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity and an assistance agreement. The county, on paper, will own the project for 10 years, then turn it over to the company.

The Mississippi Development Authority is expected to sign off on the deal before a Dec. 31, 2007, expiration date. Supervisors also set a bond hearing for July 14 at 9 a.m. for public comment.

Addressing the board, plant manager Stephanie Picard indicated the bonds come at a favorable time for the New York-headquartered company, which in 2005 announced a reduction in size from 26 mills to 14. Only five jobs were eliminated at the mill on Mississippi 3, however.

&#8220It makes for a much more attractive incentive at our Vicksburg plant. I’m excited about the business climate,” Picard said.

According to information alongside the resolution, improvements and repairs the company has in the works include boilers, tanks, roads and rails, water systems and electrical stations.

International Paper also was approved for more than $4.5 million in sales-, use- and ad valorem tax exemptions for 10 years, not including ad valorem taxes levied for the Vicksburg Warren School District.

Deputy Tax Assessor Jim Agent said the exemption request met the requirements of the state tax commission because of millions spent in new machinery and an addition to their shop.

Responding to a question from District 3 Supervisor Charles Selmon about the number of county residents the company employs, Picard produced figures that said 74 percent of its 317 employees lived in Warren County.

Other businesses approved for improvement-related tax exemptions for 10 years were: