Check the fifth paragraph
Negotiations on tax abatement for MBA stall
By Sharon Hall
http://www.thedahloneganugget.com/artic ... nbrook.txt Negotiations on tax abatement for a proposed new boarding school have been going back and forth between Lumpkin County Development Authority, the board of commissioners and Hidden Lake Academy's owner Dr. Len Buccellato since mid-October. Those negotiations may now be at an impasse, Buccellato says.
?I'm very confused. I don't understand the response from the commissioners,? Buccellato says.
Buccellato's Hidden Lake Academy hoped to build a new campus, Mountain Brook Academy, in the Hightower Church area. He approached the development authority asking for an abatement of property taxes for five years, with a graduated payment of taxes over the next five years at 20 percent per year.
The authority approved the plan and HLA was ready to make its presentation to the board at its October meeting.
An unexpected handout concerning the number of incidents REQUIRING SHERIFF'S OFFICE RESPONSE to the therapeutic boarding school on Camp Wahsega Road, and a LARGE TURNOUT OF Hightower Church area residents OPPOSED TO THE NEW FACILITY caused the school to reschedule its presentation, which was made at the November workshop. At that meeting, a large number of supporters appeared before the commission to urge tax abatements for the new facility.
A decision was expected at the Nov. 17 board meeting, but commissioners requested MBA renegotiate several points.
Originally, the board asked MBA to renegotiate
n Dedication of land for the county to build a fire station;
n Water service issues;
n Compliance with land use ordinance requirements;
n Guarantee of job creation;
n Guarantee of economic impact;
n ?Claw back? provisions (meaning if MBA fails to live up to the terms of the agreement, it must pay all taxes accrued to that point);
n Bond for title or equivalent Industrial Development Bond financing satisfactory to support the desired tax incentive; and
n Negotiated tax incentives providing for payment at the current rate for the unimproved land for three years with a five-year graduated increase of 20 percent per year.
?We did exactly what they said,? says Bill Gray, director of operations for MBA. ?We compromised as much as we could and thought it was all worked out.?
MBA agreed to
n donate land for a fire station if the county would extend public water service to the new school;
n asked the county to apply for an EIP (Employment Incentive Grant), or other grant, to fund a well water system on MBA property, which the school would dedicate for public use;
n comply with all land use requirements and ordinances;
n create 80 new jobs within two years of building completion and the school's full operation;
n guaranteed $4,500 in improvements;
n the ?claw back? provision that would allow the county to collect all taxes abated should it fail to create the proposed jobs or improvements;
n pay additional costs related to the Bond-for-Title or equivalent development authority bond financing to support the tax abatement; and
n to continue to pay existing taxes on the land, three years abatement after completion of the project and the 20 percent per year payment of taxes.
But a Nov. 17 called commission meeting revised the points once again, and what the commission wants, says Buccellato, makes the project impractical.
The board, in what it termed its ?final offer,? asked MBA for
n three acres of road frontage for a fire station, with the land reverting to MBA if the facility was not built within 10 years;
n agreed to apply for an EIP grant, with the stipulation that any costs, including administrative costs, over and above the EIP grant would be assumed by MBA. MBA would also have to pay water tap and service fees if public water was made available;
n tax abatement to begin in 2006, with graduated payments to begin in 2009;
n MBA would not request any other tax incentives, regardless of legal or tax status, from 2014-2019; and
n ?any legal action or threat of such action for any activities prior to this agreement against the commissioners, as a board or as individuals, shall cease.?
The real deal breaker, Buccellato says, is the tax abatement and when it begins.
? is only a few days away,? he says. ?We can't even begin ground work until March, so what good would tax abatement for 2006 be? What it comes down to is that by the time we pay for the bond at $45,000-plus, and other costs, the county is only giving us $22,000.?
Another factor that makes the deal unpalatable to MBA is giving up three acres of road frontage for a fire station. As designed, the only road frontage on the property would be where the gate is. The rest would be kept in trees to buffer the school from road access.
Buccellato said MBA would be willing to donate appropriate land on campus for a fire station, but did not think three acres would be required.
As for any legal action, Gray says none has been initiated at this point.
There is a ?perceived threat,? he says, because of a letter sent to District 4 Commissioner Marvin Martin. The letter requested Martin RETRACT OR CORRECT erroneous statements made in the handout distributed at the October board meeting.
Martin has not responded to the letter, according to Gray.
?No one told us about the Wednesday [Nov. 17] meeting. We would have been glad to change our plans and be there to hash it out. I'm not sure why they changed their minds. I'm very confused. This is our 12th year in Lumpkin County, and I think we have fairly evidenced what we have done and try to do for the community.?
According to the school's estimations, HBA and Ridge Creek, the two current facilities, had an economic impact of $12.3 million in 2004, the major portion coming from payroll for faculty and staff, 70 percent of whom live in the county.
It also contributes ?soft money? to the county in dollars spent by staff and visiting parents at local motels, inns, shops and restaurants.
Parents of HLA students are required to attend meetings quarterly, and while here stay in local motels and eat and shop on the square.
The new MBA would increase that impact, the school says. MBA plans to hire 80 new faculty members, in addition to food service staff. Parents of MBA students would be required to ATTEND MONTHLY MEETINGS :question: at the school, for an additional economic impact of about $11 million in 2007 alone.
The school has ?begun pursuing other options for making Mountain Brook a viable possibility,? states a letter to commissioners distributed at the Dec. 1 work session.
~~Was MBA going to take kids from the JJ system or something. Are parents really willing to travel across the country on a monthly basis?
