NEWS ANALYSIS — Great Wolf Lodge of Ga. may be waiting in the wings for its April 16 appearance, but some members of the Peachtree City Council may be licking their chops in anticipation of new tax money, an appetizer only available if they approve rezoning of the Dolce-Atlanta site off Aberdeen Parkway to accommodate a water park tourist destination.
A study commissioned in February — after Great Wolf’s rezoning proposal took an unexpected hit in a hostile public hearing and a unanimously negative vote from the Peachtree City Planning Commission — reports that an estimated $72 million is to be spent in upgrading the Dolce Atlanta-Peachtree site on Aberdeen Parkway.
As for the 8 percent city hotel/motel tax, about 38 percent would go into the city’s general fund with no strings attached. That represents a little over one-third of a mill out of the city’s current 7 mill property tax rate, or about 5 percent of the city’s total ad valorem tax income.
However, compared to the city’s total 2015 budget of $30.7 million — the larger bucket — the Great Wolf tax income impact shrinks to just under 2 percent of the total income of the city, more than a drop but not by much.
A report by Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute (GTEII) and entitled “Economic and Fiscal Impacts of a Proposed Great Wolf Lodge in Fayette County, Georgia” was included in the March 19 City Council agenda packet. The study was commissioned by the Fayette County Development Authority (FCDA).
In terms of the impact on local government and revenue generated, the report states the Great Wolf would bring a fiscal impact on Peachtree City estimated at $24.4 million over the next 15 years and, in Fayette County, an estimated impact of $2.9 million.
That’s about $1.62 million a year for Peachtree City, of which about $600,000 would be available for unrestricted use by the City Council from the city’s general fund. That represents a little over one-third of a mill in property tax.
The city’s millage rate for the Fiscal Year 2015 budget is 7.088 mills, including bond repayments. According to the city budget for 2015, a mill in city property tax produces $1,725,540.
Fayette County’s share would be much less, about $193,000 a year.
The difference in impact between the city and county comes from Peachtree City’s 8 percent hotel-motel tax that would apply to the nearly half million visitor nights, the report said.
Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) Director Nancy Price said of that 4 percent, half goes to CVB to market the city and bring in a variety of tournaments, conferences and visitors. If Great Wolf is approved, that’s about $810,000 a year added marketing money for the city bureau.
That leaves the other 4 percent. Price said three-eighths or almost 38 percent of the total hotel/motel taxes collected goes to the city as unrestricted funds while the remaining 1 percent — or about 13 percent of the total amount — must be used for state-required tourism product development.
The report concluded that with “nearly half a million visitor nights expected at full operation, it is estimated that the economic impact of the Great Wolf Lodge on Fayette County would be more than $75 million and would generate 400 new jobs in Peachtree City and nearly 770 jobs across the economy resulting in more than $20 million in local personal income.”
Plans include spending $40 million on construction, $32 million on personal property including amusements and $4 million on soft costs related to construction activity, the study said.
“The final facility will employ 500 people during the peak seasons and generate anticipated revenue of over $47 million annually,” according to the report.
Additional information is expected to be forthcoming on the breakdown of anticipated sales tax and property tax revenues for both Peachtree City and Fayette County.
FCDA President Alan Durham in commenting on why the study was conducted and who commissioned it said Fayetteville and Fayette County asked for the information since it is a good project either might want to pursue if Great Wolf is turned down by the Peachtree City Council. Durham said the FCDA board also wanted to know more about the economic impact of the proposed development.
“FCDA was asked by several entities within the county what the countywide impact of the proposed project would be. For a project of this scope, it is typical for economic development agencies to order such a study to determine if the project is a good fit somewhere in the county. If the currently proposed location is not a good fit, other cities in Fayette County have expressed interest, which is why it was appropriate for FCDA to commission the analyses.”
Durham said FCDA contracted with Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute on Feb. 20 to get an impartial analysis from a qualified third-party entity. That was about two weeks after the water park proposal met with a hostile public reception and a 5-0 negative vote by the Peachtree City Planning Commission.
“The consultants were asked to analyze the project from a county and regional level,” said Durham. ”The study was completed on March 10. On March 11, FCDA shared the report with Peachtree City and included a copy of the document in the City Council’s board packets.”
Durham said the cost of the Ga. Tech study was $10,000 and included a Local Fiscal Impact Analysis (cost-benefit analysis) and an IMPLAN (IMpact analysis for PLANning) economic impact study. The study was paid for entirely by the FCDA, Durham said.
FCDA typically conducts a fiscal impact analysis for all projects countywide, Durham said, adding, “Due to the large amount of capital investment involved for this project, we believed a full economic impact analysis by an impartial third party was appropriate. The Enterprise Innovation Institute at Georgia Tech frequently conducts these analyses for governments and agencies statewide.”
The report also took into account the existing contribution of Dolce Peachtree-Atlanta and the 100 people currently employed there compared to the 500 jobs expected at Great Wolf at full operation. Dolce currently generates approximately $10 million in revenue, according to the study.
The value of the 38-acre property and the current structures was placed at $8.155 million by the Fayette County Tax Assessor.
“In addition to the 400 new jobs that Great Wolf itself will bring to Fayette, we expect that there will more than 130 other new jobs that will result from visitor spending on food service, recreation, transportation and other retail,” the report said.
The study said the new jobs would represent nearly $14 million in new income to Fayette County, with indirect impacts generating approximately 235 more jobs with total income of about $6.6 million.
Combined, and given the visitor numbers, “we expect that the total economic impact of Great Wolf on the Fayette County economy to be 769 new jobs, more than $20 million in new local income and more than $75 million in new economic output,” GTEII said. — Additional reporting by Cal Beverly.
