Wednesday, November 27, 2002
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Wednesday, November 27, 2002 |
PTC council approves tweaked version of hotel-motel tax pact with Development AuthorityBy JOHN
MUNFORD The Peachtree City Council has unanimously signed off on a deal to cut the hotel-motel tax funds it provides to the city's development authority. But before it's official, the deal must be approved by the authority because of two changes council required as part of its approval. The authority, which operates the city's tennis center and amphitheater, must itemize what projects and programs were funded by the $1.45 million debt the authority has accrued. And city staff must reword a clause in the agreement that allows the authority's debt to be taken over by the city. Development authority chairman Tate Godfrey said he was hopeful there would be no problems meeting council's conditions. "I am very confident that we have a deal," Godfrey said Monday, adding that he hadn't seen a copy of the newly worded language about the city assuming the authority's debt. "We don't like being in debt, but if you're going to operate and build first-class facilities, that's part of the effort." Mayor Steve Brown, who originally wanted to table the deal to study the debt issue, joined his fellow council members in approving the agreement with the conditions at Thursday night's council meeting. Councilman Steve Rapson abstained since his wife Kristi is suing the authority over alleged pay inequities while she served as amphitheater director. Before the vote, councilman Murray Weed challenged Brown to approve the agreement. "There is a difference between being a community activist and a mayor," Weed said emphatically. "I ask you not only to support this, but to wholeheartedly endorse it." Earlier in the discussion, Brown said the authority's debt is "technically" not the city's responsibility. Weed said that may be true, but the authority's only funding source is from the city and "ultimately, the city has to pay it." Weed also noted that the loans taken out by the authority paid for facilities that are owned by the city. "We do realize the $1.45 million is a great deal of money," Weed said. "But the Development Authority is responsible for explaining how that money was spent and I have every faith they will do so to our satisfaction." The authority has used revenues from the city's hotel-motel tax to subsidize operations of the tennis center and amphitheater. Most of those facilities' budgets are funded by ticket prices, court fees, membership fees and sponsorships. The agreement, which was initially approved by the authority at its meeting last week, would cut the authority's share of hotel-motel tax funds by $85,000 this year to $180,000. Next year, the authority's take would be capped at a maximum of $140,000, but it would actually receive 15.113 percent of the hotel-motel tax collections. In the third year, the authority must set a goal of reducing the hotel-motel tax funds to a maximum of $100,000. The authority also stipulates in the agreement that it will no longer seek long-term debt to fund projects for the tennis center or amphitheater; instead, any such projects must be funded by the city. The authority would maintain the ability to get a short-term 90-day line of credit for up to $180,000 to finance deposits for acts that will appear in the amphitheater's summer concert series. The authority, which uses such loans once a year, pays the funds back once it receives its revenue for ticket sales. The agreement, which must be renegotiated after the first three years, would automatically renew each year unless the authority or council notifies the other party in writing at least 90 days before the renewal date of a decision not to renew the deal. The agreement does not address how much funding the city will provide for the authority to perform its economic development efforts. Godfrey credited the council members and authority members who negotiated the deal for devising a plan that would work. "They did it," Godfrey said, citing councilmen Dan Tennant and Murray Weed along with authority members Bob Brooks, Brian Palmitessa and Doug Warner. The authority also got support from council member Annie McMenamin. "I'll give a lot of credit to Dan Tennant," Godfrey said. "He told us he wanted to work this out and he did."
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