A food products company is looking for a reduction in local property taxes as a condition of its expansion in Wareham.

The Ohio-based T. Marzetti Company makes products ranging from salad dressings to pre-packaged garlic loaves. The company would like to expand its Wareham-based Chatham Village Division, which manufactures croutons, located at 15 Kendrick Road.

"From the administrative side, it makes all of the sense in the world," said Derek Sullivan, financial analyst for Wareham, during a Board of Selectmen meeting on Tuesday. He added that the town would still generate significant revenue from the expansion even with the tax relief.

Conducting business in Massachusetts tends to be a more expensive than other states, said Robert Foley, a tax services consultant at Ernst & Young who is working with the T Marzetti Company. Marzetti wants to expand its Wareham facility, but also has a facility in Ohio that can handle an expansion.

Expansion and improvements to the Wareham facility will increase property taxes by approximately $10,000 per year, said Salvador Pina, director of the Community and Economic Development Authority.

The company and town officials are discussing paying half of that - $5,000 - for a relief period of 20 years. After the 20 years is complete, the company will return to paying the full amount of property taxes owed to the town, Pina said.

The expansion will create approximately 25 additional jobs in Wareham, said Clifford Tabke, the plant manager at 15 Kendrick Road. The facility currently employs approximately 140 people.

Getting local tax relief is also a necessary condition before getting tax relief from the state, said Foley. Foley characterized state tax relief as "lucrative."

Any tax relief would have to be approved by Town Meeting voters, said Sullivan. The Selectmen, mindful of the upcoming September 7 deadline to submit articles for the fall Town Meeting warrant, voted 4-0 to place an article about the issue onto the warrant.

Selectman Alan Slavin expressed his support for the expansion.

"It's all upside. … The only downside is if you guys leave here," he told the company representatives.

Selectman Ellen Begley expressed reservations about supporting the tax relief until she had more information about it.