Alright, so the lyrics of the yet to be written song “April TIFs” are a little different from the old classic “April Showers.” In that song the April rains bring “the flowers that bloom in May.” Unfortunately while the April rains might “bring flowers that bloom in May” Branson’s April election may bring the TIFs that bloom in May.
It’s really pretty simple. There are three alderman seats up for grabs in Branson’s April election. It is the vote of the Branson Board of Aldermen that determines whether or not developers may use Tax Increment Financing (TIF) for redevelopment projects within Branson. Is it just possible that at least two developers are, stomping in the wings, waiting to see how the board composition changes as the result of the April election before submitting their TIF applications?
Branson’s April election may very well determine whether there will be a rash of TIF applications coming in May. As they sally forth seeking tax payer dollars to fund their projects, the developers will be driveling about the thousands of year round jobs their projects will create and the revenues they will bring in. Of the thousands of jobs created at Branson Hills and Branson Landing, how many of them ever held the promise of paying enough so that a person, working 40 hours a week, could support a spouse and two children?
Oh, there is no doubt that revenues are being generated within the TIF districts but that revenue is being generated by people. The same people that the developers, and others feeding at the TIF trough of government financed development, need to make their tax payer financed and supported projects financially viable. Can any reasonable person really believe that, even with the TIF, the Branson Landing project could have gotten acceptable financing without the millions of visitors coming to Branson annually? Is it unreasonable to ask, “What would have done the most to bring more people to Branson, $100 million spent on marketing all that Branson is and has or $100 million to develop Branson Landing?
But, enough of this frivolity, whether one loves TIF or hates them, the April aldermanic election has the potential to swing the TIF pendulum one way or the other. Those favoring TIFs have to be salivating over the fact that the incumbent alderman in Ward 1, Stan Barker is running unopposed, that incumbent Ward 2 Alderman Jack Purvis is running for reelection and that Marc Williams, the “W” in HCW is running for the seat left vacant by the decision of Alderman Dick Gass not to run.
Those not favoring TIFs can only hope that the candidacy of Cris Bohinc against Purvis in Ward 2 and Dr. Rick Davis against Williams will provide voters with a choice. Some might ask, “But Seagull why would TIF developers be salivating over the possibility of Purvis and Williams being elected more than Bohinc and Davis?” The answer would be, “History.”
