From right, Roberto Romo, Elvira Romo and Camila Sanchez leave Costco after purchasing bulk packages of drinks during opening day at the store’s Fort Oglethorpe location. Nearly 3,000 customers visited Costco during its first day, according to general manager Bob Palermo.
File photoCatoosa County will spend an additional $49,000 this year in interest payments on the $4.9 million it borrowed to develop the site for the new Costco.
The interest rate charged by Northwest Georgia Bank will increase to a minimum of 3.25 percent — up almost 1 percent from the previous 2.275 percent and bringing the county’s annual interest payment to $159,000.
But county officials are pleased with the Costco project because the store, located at Interstate 75 and Cloud Springs Road in Fort Oglethorpe, reportedly had $75 million in annual sales since opening more than a year ago. That translates into $2.25 million in annual sales tax revenue split among Catoosa County, its cities and the school district, according to Catoosa Chief Financial Officer Carl Henson.
“It was a good project,” Henson said. “Sometimes you have to have an incentive package to get these businesses. This was a good one.”
The county’s interest payments went up because the one-year temporary financing it arranged to pay for the site work expired in January and had to be renewed for a year.