Land between U.S. 61 North and the Yazoo River near Blakely is still being considered for a $200 million plant among other sites in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama.

The project, dubbed &#8220Project Tiger” by the unnamed company, would employ 2,000 people in heavy manufacturing jobs within four years, according to the only information supplied. Initial reports were that a list of potential sites numbered about 15.

Locating here is still an option for the company, which has narrowed the contenders to about a dozen other sites, with previously mentioned deadlines relaxed to ensure a quality site, sources close to the process said Tuesday.

The company is making pitches for various tax breaks to local governments in the areas of their search, including one made to Warren County supervisors that entailed free port warehousing within an inventory tax exemption and a fee-in-lieu of property taxes for an unspecified time period.

Estimates by the Warren County Assessor’s Office put the company’s tax savings just from the inventory tax break at a total of at least $5,000 if extended over 10 years.

As for the breaks on warehousing, they vary on whether a company ships more goods inside Mississippi or outside. The breaks are more generous if they are shipped outside the state.

Despite the verbal approval the board gave to Executive Director of the Economic Development Foundation Jim Pilgrim after a pitch on the company’s behalf three weeks ago, reservations include skepticism on the company’s employment promises and its impact on the tax base.

Constituents have voiced similar skepticism, District 4 Supervisor and board president Carl Flanders said, adding the feedback was mixed at best.

District 2 Supervisor William Banks, in whose district the plant would be located if a site near Blakely is chosen, said he is waiting to hear what officials with the company, who have not spoken with the board in person, have to say.

&#8220I’m just waiting to see the outcome. They have to let us know something,” Banks said.

When first presented to them, supervisors were unhappy that a limited amount of details was being provided in exchange for what would be hefty tax breaks. Exact terms of the inventory tax break and the fee-in-lieu were not disclosed.

Supervisors have already granted this year a fee-in-lieu of property taxes to Duke Energy Gas Transmission for a natural gas pipeline through parts of southern Warren County.

Made known anonymously at first, that proposal laid out the exact terms of its fee-in-lieu, amounting to $125,000 to the county and the school district in each of the first 10 years, then $375,000 per year in subsequent years, based on company estimates.

A second company, Gulf South Pipeline, has asked both the city and county to consider one for their pipeline project.

A variety of property tax exemptions and inducements are offered under state law for new employers and for expansions. Vicksburg and Warren County officials, as a rule, grant the maximum possible. No enterprises can be exempted from paying taxes levied for public schools.