Kentucky Gives Creationist Theme Park 75 Percent Tax Discount For The
Next 30 Years
"The multi-million dollar tax breaks
for the amusement park
come at a time when
Kentucky families are struggling
from *eight rounds* of state budget cuts
over the past three years.
That includes cuts to education
at all levels, a pay freeze
for all teachers and state workers,
and reduced funding for Medicaid."
-- In May, Kentucky approved a $43 million tax break for
Ark Encounter, a Bible-themed amusement park that
religious organizations are building outside Williamstown.
Now the state is giving the creationist project another kickback in
the form of a 75 percent property tax discount over the next 30 years:
Mayor Rick Skinner said the offer is laid out in a memorandum of
agreement that will be followed by a formal tax-increment financing
deal with Petersburg-based Ark Encounters LLC in coming months.
The tax deal is in addition to almost $200,000 given to the company
by Grant County's economic development arm as an enticement to
keep
the project located there, along with 100 acres of reduced-price
land.
And that's not counting the state's promise of $40 million
worth of
sales tax rebates and a possible $11 million in improvements to the
interstate near the project that would be financed by the Kentucky
Transportation Cabinet.
The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that "the array of state and
local incentives worry some people, who aren't sure they will pay
off in the end."
That group includes local officials like City Council member and
former Mayor Glenn Caldwell who worries that residents might
"be burdened with additional costs because of this project."
Proponents of the project, including Gov. Steve Beshear (D) say it
will create up to 900 jobs and attract 1.6 million tourists in
its first year. However, as TPM notes, "those numbers were based on
a feasibility study, commissioned by Ark Encounters LLC, that
state officials reportedly never actually saw."
The multiple tax breaks for the amusement park come at a time when
Kentucky families are struggling from eight rounds of state budget cuts
over the past three years. That includes cuts to education at all
levels, a pay freeze for all teachers and state workers, and reduced
funding for Medicaid.
The state already has a Creationism Museum, and the complementary
amusement park includes biblical exhibits like the Tower of Babel and a
full-size replica of Noah's ArkĀ
complete with dinosaurs inside
(which creationists believe co-existed with early man). It's slated
to open in the spring of 2014.
Links here:
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/08/10/292379/kentucky-gives-creat\
ionist-theme-park-75-percent-tax-discount-for-the-next-30-years/
<http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/08/10/292379/kentucky-gives-crea\
tionist-theme-park-75-percent-tax-discount-for-the-next-30-years/>
