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Kalahari incentives add up to $61 mil
City releases Kalahari incentives
Date published: 1/9/2008 BY EMILY BATTLE Fredericksburg would give back nearly half of the local taxes paid by Kalahari Resorts as part of a 20-year, $61 million incentives package that helped convince the Wisconsin-based company to build a water park hotel and convention center in the Celebrate Virginia tourism complex. Mayor Tom Tomzak said as the terms of that package were released that Kalahari will transform the city as a tourist destination. And on a night when the city manager called for a hiring freeze because of lagging sales tax revenues, Tomzak said this project is necessary for the city to meet the growing expenses of local government services and infrastructure. The agreement calls for the city to waive $3.35 million in up-front development fees for the project. The bulk of that is a waiver of the roughly $3.2 million in water and sewer availability fees Kalahari would have to pay to connect to the city's utility system. In addition to fee waivers, the deal calls for the city to return 47.5 percent of the local tax revenues that Kalahari generates to the resort on a quarterly basis for 20 years. In all, that means that of the $125 million Kalahari is projected to generate in local government revenue over 20 years, the city would get $64 million, and Kalahari would get $61 million in the form of tax breaks and fee waivers. The agreement also includes the following: Kalahari will include Fredericksburg in its marketing, and it will set aside up to 500 square feet in its lobby for the city to market other area attractions. Kalahari will "work with" the city to provide transportation between the resort and the downtown, but that doesn't require the resort to make any financial commitment to such a transportation system. Kalahari will develop a water conservation program. The Fredericksburg Kalahari will be the only Kalahari resort in Virginia.
Read more stories about Fredericksburg Date published: 1/9/2008
Date?
(posted by
WOLFEMAN
, Jan. 10, 2008 8:33 pm)
When is election day in the City?
Can Politicians Take Directions???
(posted by
MattKelly
, Jan. 10, 2008 12:04 pm)
Take a right……..and another right at the Pacific….Got It! T- We are in agreement, quality of life is important. The quality of life issue is high on the priority list of most businesses when looking at locations to set up shop. I hope we will use the resources from Kalahari to protect the character and quality of life of the City on this side of the interstate--while reducing the tax burden on our residents and attracting higher paying jobs to the area.
I stand corrected, and good luck.
(posted by
Tamerlane
, Jan. 10, 2008 11:21 am)
Rember that quality of life (no crummy traffic, good schools, good recreation) are a vital part of economic development. Look where the real hi tech stuff is... take a left and it's the Pacific, take a right and it's the Sierras or Cascades. These people demand Q of Life.
Time for an New TV,,,,,
(posted by
MattKelly
, Jan. 10, 2008 9:27 am)
T- I am not talking about RADCO which by the way no longer exists. We have a new regional body that consists of only elected officials—The George Washington Regional Commission which is actually making some headway on regional planning. On the jobs front I am talking only about efforts by the City’s Economic Development Dept. We are actively going out and looking for business opportunities.
Matt: Stay Tuned?
(posted by
Tamerlane
, Jan. 10, 2008 8:27 am)
Your quote: "We are looking at bring higher paying jobs to the city—stay tuned." Matt, I have been tuned into this so long that I started with a tube-powered Croslry B&W TV. The only thinkg all the Rapp Area This and That" has provided is sinecure jobs for useless beareaucrats. At least they did a poll that found that alsmost all the commuters would take a pay cut to work at a DECENT job locally. Almost all have high degress,etc, but RADCO couldn,t attract flies to poop.
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