The following is the first paragraph from a letter that your City Administrator, Terry Dody, sent to Mr. Edd Akers, President, of the Branson Lakes Area Tourism Enhancement District on January 30, 2006.
“Dear Edd,
Before (I repeat) BEFORE, the enhancement tax was voted on, the Wal-Mart Corporation requested changes in the Branson Hills project site plan. The ability of the developer to make those extensive and expensive changes and keep Wal-Mart as a Branson Hills tenant was based on the potential revenues from the proposed enhancement tax- if it passed. Had the tourism tax not succeeded, it is extremely unlikely that the developer could have modified the original development plan to meet Wal-Marts’s requirements.”
This strongly indicates to me that at the very time voters were being led to believe that if they voted for the retail marketing tax it would be used strictly for marketing, that the City of Branson was planning on diverting millions of that tax to pay off TIF indebtedness in Branson Landing and Branson Hills. Even worse, it appears that the city was actually negotiating with Wal-Mart and the developers to specifically use the proceeds of that tax to do something that they would not have been able to do without voter approval of the tax for another purpose.
A lie can be either by commission or omission and deceitful acts can be either overt or covert. I wouldn’t expect much different from developers, big box stores of the Gal-Mart type or the person who wrote that letter but I would expect different from you. My prayer is that none of you were involved in the perpetration of this apparent deceit upon the voters. My further prayer is that you will take whatever action is necessary to insure that the proceeds of the Tourism Enhancement District retail tax that the voters approved in Nov. of 2005, AFTER both the Branson Hills and Branson Landing TIF Plans had been approved, goes 100 percent toward the marketing of Branson and not to pay off TIFs in Branson Landing and Branson Hills.
Thank you.”
Reply of
First of all what Mr. Groman has said is a miss, a gross misstatement of the facts. The Tourism Tax first of allthe Tourism Enhancement Tax we were asked numerous times whether or not it would be captured by the TIF and we always said and in a public meeting said that it would be captured by the TIF and was not exempt under the TIF law. What Mr. Groman is referring to is that after the TIF law was put onto the agenda or onto the ballot before it was passed at the same time concurrently happening with that was a relocation of the foot print for the Wal-Mart Store.
The developer came back to the city came back to the council and advised the council that with the change being mandated by Wal-Mart without some additional resources it would not be possible to buy the additional land that would be required and to site prep it. So the plan went forward with the understanding that if the TIF passed that those dollars which would be have to be legally captured by the TIF District would be necessary to help finance the new footprint for the Wal-Mart and the Sam’s Club that was being demanded by Wal-Mart.
There was nothing done under the table there was nothing done deceitful Mr. Groman everything was done out in the open and it fits very logically together if in fact you would in fact ask the questions and get answers before giving your misguided and improper opinion. So everything was done fully above board fully and fully disclosed and the reason that these things happened was because they were concurrently happening as the foot print was being changed by Wal-Mart.
It just so happened that the TIF vote was put on the ballot at the same time that Wal-Mart was redesigning its foot print up there. Had that not happened and had that vote not passed then according to Wal-Mart and according to the developer they would not be able to do the TIF plan or the expansion of it and the new foot print for the new Wal-Mart Store. Now how factual that is at the end of the day can it be rearranged we don’t know yet that’s what has been worked on for a long time and is continuing to be worked onbut again Mr. Groman, nothing was done under the table nothing was misstated except your comments and this project goes on in the same manner as it has always been disclosed and told that it would be.
Thank you Mr. Mayor.
Note: Transcribed from tapes of meeting purchased from the City of
