Walker commissioner opposes casino Criticisms addressed No skin in the game Hotel/motel tax What if...
Shannon Whitfield releases more information on the Canyon Ridge Resort.
LaFAYETTE — Walker County Commissioner Shannon Whitfield said he “personally” doesn’t support bringing a casino to the Canyon Ridge development on Lookout Mountain.
“I have no desire to see that take place,” Whitfield said earlier this week, “and it is my understanding that the developers, the current developers, have no desire for that either. I per- sonally would not support a casino.”
Rumors have circulated that a casino could come to Canyon Ridge Resort, a proposed $106 million upscale hotel resort on Lookout Mountain with 178 rooms, conference center, spa, infinity pool, and an upgrade to an existing golf course. The complex is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2019.
Bringing casino gambling into Georgia isn’t going to happen soon. The bill did not pass through the state General Assembly earlier this year.
Former Walker County Commissioner Bebe Heiskell was open to the idea of a casino at the highly debated Mountain Cove Farms property in Walker County.
Whitfield, Canyon Ridge developer and Scenic Land Investments President Duane Horton, and Walker County Development Authority Chairman Robert Wardlaw answered concerned citizens’ questions and addressed criticism of the project at a town hall meeting at the Walker County Civic Center on Tuesday, following a presentation of the development.
Whitfield has received a lot of criticism from some of his biggest supporters who were with him throughout his campaign.
The criticism has revolved mostly around three issues: the county’s tax-break agreement with the developer was too sweet a deal; the project’s future success is being overestimated; and Whitfield, who campaigned on having a transparent administration, kept the project secret for too long.
Under the deal, the $106 million project must employ at least 180 full-time workers if it wants a tax break.
Slated to be built and open by the end of 2019, Canyon Ridge Resort would receive a 30-year tax abatement — pay no property taxes for the first five years and 10 percent of the current tax rate for 25 years.
The resort would include a 178-room upscale hotel, conference center, spa and infinity pool. An existing golf course will be renovated to compliment the overall development, according to developers.
“Some of my supporters were criticizing me a couple weeks ago because I had kept this project very confidential through the election cycle,” Whitfield said on Tuesday. “I gave the developer my word that I would not make this a campaign issue, or I would not leak this out — publicly — until they were ready to go public with it. So there were some people close to me that felt like that I should have shared it with them and possibly gone against that commitment that I made to the developer of not disclosing any information.”
Whitfield said this is the largest single investment ever made in Walker County at one time.
“This is over $100 million. There are other industries, I’m sure, that have — over time —invested over $100 million. But as far a single startup new investment over $100 million, I don’t think it has ever been done,” Whitfield said.
Whitfield said he understand why people are — and should be — skeptical.
Asked about the issue of transparency, Whitfield said a full presentation was given at the Walker County Development Authority meeting in March where only a handful of citizens were in attendance.
One of the citizens that attended was former commissioner candidate Perry Lamb.
“I was glad that he was able to attend. At that time, once Perry even saw the presentation, he was very excited and complimentary. Other citizens did not elect to come to that meeting,” he said.
When the Development Authority held its May meeting to finalize the approval for the project, it was a public meeting as well.
“No one showed up,” Whitfield said. “So we were transparent with the meeting process and everything was presented in the public eye. But no one attended the second meeting and only a handful were at the first meeting.”
Whitfield, when announcing the project on May 14, said, “It is ... important to note that (this project) do(es) not include any financial contributions or risk backing from Walker County or the Development Authority. Even though it was never requested, we made it abundantly clear from the beginning that Walker County is not in a position to take on any financial investment or risk at this time.”
Canyon Ridge homeowners agreed to a special tax district that will bring tax hikes — as much as double the current rate — for properties within the district. Those funds will be used to provide government facilities and services for public roads, streetscaping, lighting, fire and EMS facilities and equipment, public recreations and parks, walking trails, as well as water, sewer and other county-owned utilities.
Whitfield reiterated that the county will have “zero money in it” with “zero debt.”
The county will seek legislation in the 2018 Georgia General Assembly to create a hotel/motel tax that will be used to promote tourism, conventions and trade shows within the county.
There are 159 counties in Georgia and 78 of those have a hotel/motel tax.
The tax would be countywide, Whitfield said.
“The hotel-motel tax is estimated to bring in $770,000 a year for us to earmark and utilize for advertising and marketing of Walker County,” he said.
A committee will be utilized to determine how the money from the tax will be spent.
Whitfield said most communities will use a convention and visitors bureau or more commonly a chamber of commerce board to take and manage the money and decide how it is invested in that marketing and advertising.
Whitfield said it will not be made solely by the commissioner, as it will be made in concert with an entity outside of the commissioner’s office.
The Walker County Chamber of Commerce has the same type of agreement with the city of LaFayette, in which a portion of the city’s hotel/motel tax goes through the chamber for marketing and advertising to bring attention to LaFayette.
Asked what if the project is not successful, Whitfield said, “This project is what I would classify as a high-risk project, because it has never been done in Walker County. So there is a lot of unknown risk. That is the reason why we made the commitment not to make any investments into this, or to take on any risks. So if the project was to end up failing, or in other words — bankrupt — the county loses nothing other than the projected revenue from the sales tax and the hotel/motel tax. We’re not going to lose or have to pay back any debt because we are not signing up to take any risks of any debt.”
Currently the property taxes collected on the property is $16,668 per year and over 40 years would equal $666,760.
“We will continue to collect that. They will continue to pay that. That is not being abated,” Whitfield said.
Asked what the advantages the proposed $280-per-night stay at the hotel, compared to less expensive hotels in the Chattanooga area, would be, Whitfield said the resort would be an ultra-luxury — high end — conference center and resort that would market to Fortune 500 companies to bring in top executives and their families to the county for the experience of a mountain-top retreat.