In For A Penny
In for a pound; or upwards of $125K in this case.
Local leaders are already in steep denial and full obfuscation mode with assurances that the city’s attempt to lure the Democratic National Convention to the Queen City won’t require local tax dollars to bait the hook.
Then turning right around with the next breath and conceding that the local cost could top $125,000, along with the guestimated $40 million in private donations and fundraising it’ll take to plant the seed that’s supposed to sprout $200 million in economic development.
The Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, the local agitprop for all things touristy that receives direct money from the city’s general fund as well as from taxes on hotel rooms and prepared food, has already kicked in $25,000.
Yet we get this from Rep. Thom Tillis, one of only two Republicans to attend this week’s DNC cheerleading camp kickoff:
“It will come down to the financing package,” he said. “If there was a significant amount of taxpayer dollars required, either from the state or the city, it would be problematic. Any time you can spur economic development and shine a light on our region, it’s a good thing.”
So what exactly constitutes a “significant amount of taxpayer dollars”? Is the line drawn at the $25,000 that taxpayers have already been hit for, or the $125,000 officials say it could cost; does it become “problematic” if it balloons to $200,000? $250,000? Or is that still a deal to “shine a light on our region”?
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