ROANOKE RAPIDS — The failed Randy Parton Theatre may soon become an Internet gambling facility and bar. Plans for a lease-to-buy deal for the financially ailing facility, now known as the Roanoke Rapids Theater, could be announced within days.
RALEIGH – Local governments can help their communities by keeping a lid on local taxes and fees, avoiding unnecessary regulation, and allowing private property owners to use their property without fear of government meddling. Those are some key ideas offered in the Center for Local Innovation’s new City and County Issue Guide 2008.
RALEIGH – North Carolina can avoid future failures like the Randy Parton Theatre, if legislators reform the rules for so-called tax increment financing, or TIF. That’s according to a new John Locke Foundation Spotlight report that outlines four potential reforms.
RALEIGH — The Kannapolis City Council’s plan to borrow $168 million through tax increment financing exposes key problems with that type of funding scheme, according to a new John Locke Foundation Spotlight report.
RALEIGH — A healthy serving of taxpayer funds will help a planned nutritional research mega-facility, part of a mixed-use development backed by developer and Dole CEO David Murdock. Thanks to the passage in November 2004 of Amendment One to the N.C. Constitution, which provides for local governments to implement so-called tax increment financing without a public vote, a majority of local officials and Murdock are looking for almost $200 million in public assistance.
RALEIGH — State Treasurer Richard Moore and other members of the Local Government Commission gave final approval to the City of Roanoke Rapids to borrow $21. 5 million to finance the Randy Parton Theatre even though a feasibility study found that other attractions must first be in place for the theater to be viable. The final approval came at the commission’s meeting Feb. 6.
RALEIGH — Roanoke Rapids will pay a $1.5 million per year “artist fee” to entertainer Randy Parton, brother of Dolly Parton, for managing a new theater bearing his name, according to a contract obtained by Carolina Journal. In addition, the city is required to provide Randy Parton an “acceptable” fully furnished home and an “acceptable” vehicle.
RALEIGH — Roanoke Rapids will pay entertainer Randy Parton, brother of Dolly Parton, at least $750,000 per year for managing a new theater bearing his name, according to informed sources, who requested anonymity.
RALEIGH — Several bills enacted into law in 2005 broadened the power of localities in North Carolina, including the powers to enact zoning ordinances and promote tourism, and the way localities may invest their money.
CHARLOTTE—Whether tax increment financing really works as advertised is an empirical question. In recent years, several studies have examined the issue, reaching the general conclusion that TIFs as typically used produce few of the benefits claimed. Indeed, in some cases they may actually be counterproductive. One study found that Iowa’s TIF law “now has become a de facto entitlement for new industry and housing development in the state with little or no evidence of overall public benefit or meaningful discussion of the mean cost of the practice.” But supporters of Amendment One in North Carolina have been citing as part of this same study as supporting their position.
CHARLOTTE — When North Carolina voters head to the polls Nov. 2, they will be asked to approve a change in the state constitution that would radically alter how localities approach economic development. The proposed Amendment One would allow for the use of tax increment financing to issue public debt without a public vote. To many local government officials and developers, TIFs represent a valuable economic-development tool. To opponents — who are planning a press conference for Monday — the practice is unneeded for legitimate government services, dangerous to public control of debt, and potentially costly to taxpayers.
