Couple of things
- This is a few days old, but have you seen the coverage of the Homeland Security funding? Granted it's not a thrilling story, but it's incredibly odd.
The state of Indiana has been classified as having the most potential terror targets - 8,591 - which is considerably more than New York (5,687) and California (3,212). Our Homeland Security Department also determined that Old MacDonald's Petting Zoo was under more of a threat than Times Square, which was even listed as a potential target.
- Election Day may have come and gone, but don't forget that we've got runoff races in the area. Be sure to get out and cast your ballot in those. It only takes a few minutes, so go be part of the process.
- This is a shameless plug, but it should be fun. The museum is hosting something new called Figgie's@Five, and it starts next Wednesday. It's one of my brainchilds, so you ought to come out and enjoy yourself. The good folks at Athens World are planning on doing so.
- As Athens-Clarke County recovers from another swift kick to the shins regarding the Orkin Tract, the Athens Banner-Herald wonders how we might actually go about and get that thing used. The loss of the vaccine plant hurts, big-time. Those were good jobs - ranging from high-skill to entry-level - and it would have done wonders for this community, particularly in light of our recent efforts to do something about poverty. It's time we start rolling out the red carpet to recruit folks to come here, particularly that massive tract of land.
- Ah making The Wife and I proud ... the only two non-rural counties in the state to support Ralph Reed in the Republican primary? Why that would be Richmond County (my home county) and Chatham County (The Wife's home county). Yes ... that figures. At least my dad didn't support him. He was, well, is I suppose, a Casey Cagle man.
The state of Indiana has been classified as having the most potential terror targets - 8,591 - which is considerably more than New York (5,687) and California (3,212). Our Homeland Security Department also determined that Old MacDonald's Petting Zoo was under more of a threat than Times Square, which was even listed as a potential target.
- Election Day may have come and gone, but don't forget that we've got runoff races in the area. Be sure to get out and cast your ballot in those. It only takes a few minutes, so go be part of the process.
- This is a shameless plug, but it should be fun. The museum is hosting something new called Figgie's@Five, and it starts next Wednesday. It's one of my brainchilds, so you ought to come out and enjoy yourself. The good folks at Athens World are planning on doing so.
- As Athens-Clarke County recovers from another swift kick to the shins regarding the Orkin Tract, the Athens Banner-Herald wonders how we might actually go about and get that thing used. The loss of the vaccine plant hurts, big-time. Those were good jobs - ranging from high-skill to entry-level - and it would have done wonders for this community, particularly in light of our recent efforts to do something about poverty. It's time we start rolling out the red carpet to recruit folks to come here, particularly that massive tract of land.
- Ah making The Wife and I proud ... the only two non-rural counties in the state to support Ralph Reed in the Republican primary? Why that would be Richmond County (my home county) and Chatham County (The Wife's home county). Yes ... that figures. At least my dad didn't support him. He was, well, is I suppose, a Casey Cagle man.
posted by Jmac at 7:11 AM
5 Comments:
It's time we start rolling out the red carpet to recruit folks to come here, particularly that massive tract of land.
1. You think we haven't started?
2. Do you think it's always worth it? Communities hand out these tax incentives left and right that often end up really hurting the local government in exchange for a few jobs that usually aren't nearly as hot as the company promised. Lowe's, anyone?
From what I hear, the Athens-Clarke County and Oconee County governments finally managed to work together on a package of incentives for the Orkin tract, which naturally prompts the question as to why haven’t they been able to do that for the past two decades. Perhaps such cooperation was due to the fact that all of the development would have occurred on the Oconee portion of the property. It remains to be seen whether this newly found spirit of cooperation between the two governments endures.
As I recall, and I'm working form memory here, the east side Lowe's has sales projected at $24 million annually by the company itself. At 3%, that comes out to $720,000 per year in local sales tax revenue (i.e. for the Unified Government and the Clarke County School District, with the other 4% going to the folks under the Gold Dome). The growth in employment was an added bonus.
The typical period for property tax and bond incentives is 20 years. Extrapolated over that period, total local sales tax revenue would come to $14,400,000. I don't have the tax and/or bond incentives offered to Lowe's handy, but rest assured that local government expects to benefit greatly from the additional sales tax revenue when compared to what it gave up in terms of incentives(and by a wide margin).
In terms of the opportunity costs regarding existing businesses, this redevelopment project was a sizeable net gain for the county as well. The Bell's grocery store that closed did not even come close to Lowe's in terms of employment or sales tax revenue. The Haband call center moved across the street to the old Rose's shopping center and the Georgia School of Cosmetology moved to the former Target shopping center on the west side, in both cases filling unoccupied retail space. The other tenants of the old shopping center had left years ago following the big fire.
Dang, that was some good facts. I guess I didn't think about sales tax, as most companies ACC woos aren't consumer businesses, but it's a good point.
Thanks for the kind word. This stuff can get complicated very quickly, as different development authorities and kinds of incentives may be involved, and there is a lot of misconceptions floating around.
One one hand, the traditional Industrial Development Authority (IDA) handled the Lowe's thing with the usual kind of tax and/or bond incentives. On the other hand, the Development Authority of the Unified Government of Athens-Clarke County (DAUGA-CC, say that three times fast) on which I sit has, as a matter of policy, concentrated on bond issues for non-profit organizations (like the UGA Athletic Association and Real Estate Foundation), a much different kind of animal. The DAUGA-CC can do essentially the same things as the IDA, and more besides. As we go forward, many of the projects that would have formerly been handled by the IDA will propbably shift to the DAUGA-CC. The IDA will remain in operation for the soreseeable future, however, as it will have bonds outstanding for some years to come.
Of course, neither of these is to be confused with the Downtown Development Authority or the Economic Development Foundation :).
soreseeable? Yikes.
BTW, I hope that I didn't come across as lecturing, as that was not my intent (I'm just one of those policy wonk types).
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