Fort Oglethorpe City Council is joining Ringgold and Catoosa County in support of Catoosa County Economic Development Authority efforts to entice developers trying to bring a Kroger-anchored development to the intersection of Battlefield Parkway and Pine Grove Road.
The council approved an incentive package calling for about $1 million of infrastructure improvements at the potential Kroger site that provisionally will include restaurants, shops, a medical office, a department store and day care in addition to the Kroger grocery.
Catoosa County Attorney Chad Young said annual sales for the grocery alone are projected to be about $40 million.
The county and Ringgold have agreed to offer an incentives package that follows the same formula used with Costco that is based on the sharing of local option sales taxes: 70 percent county, 20 percent Fort Oglethorpe and 10 percent Ringgold.
Local leaders are finding that spending money makes money, that offering incentives can pay rewards measured in tax revenue, job creation and increased property values.
“This is a learning process for everybody,” Councilman Sharrock said last week.
The willingness of local governments to offer tax or tax-funded incentives is seen as key to enticing growth and development, officials said.
“I had some questions, but it sounds good,” Councilman Smith said.
Young said the idea of incentives may be something new for the county, but it already is showing promise.
Costco chose to build at the intersection of Scruggs and Cloud Springs roads near Interstate 75 because work to prepare the site was underwritten by local taxpayers, he said.
But the decision to offer incentives was not made quickly.
Private landowners approached the county and development authority in spring of 2009 to ask for assistance in site preparation work that totaled about $4.5 million.
Young said the county was reluctant at first to commit public funds for a private undertaking but eventually agreed to underwrite the project using projected sales tax revenue.
Costco is projected to generate more than $165 million in annual sales which means sales tax revenue of more than $3 million for the county and about $4.5 million for the state.
Using conservative estimates, the incentives are expected to be repaid in between two and five years, Young said.