If Cowley County do-it-yourselfers want to shop at a Lowe’s home improvement store, they’ll have to keep driving to Ponca City or Derby. Arkansas City commissioners Tuesday voted against advancing an economic incentive package meant to lure the retailer to town.
“I am absolutely for growth,” Mayor Dotty Smith, who voted against pursuing the tax plan, said . “But I want to grow in the right way.”
Commissioners sat through more than three hours of testimony at a public hearing before voting 3 to 2 against the creation of a tax increment financing district for a proposed 33-acre development in north Ark City. Developers overseeing the project confirmed, early in the meeting, that Lowe’s would be the anchor tenant for the development.
Businesses within so-called TIF districts can utilize a portion of the property tax they generate to fund road, sewer and other improvements that serve their development specifically. Developers for this project were also seeking to charge an extra one-cent in sales tax within the district.
The funding incentives would have paid for $7 million to $8 million in infrastructure improvements to serve the development proposed by Kansas City-based Kessinger-Hunter.
Tuesday’s hearing drew a crowd of 200 people that represented an array of opinions on the proposed project. The meeting was moved to the campus of Cowley College to accommodate the larger crowd.
None of the 30 or more people who spoke were altogether opposed to Lowe’s moving into the Ark City market, but many were bothered by the offer of incentives.
“I’m concerned about equal competition,” David Maslen, an Ark City resident and local attorney, said. “Part of the problem is the TIF issue.”
Maslen and others wondered why a large retailer like Lowe’s should see some of their property tax revenue go directly to fund improvements for the development, when other businesses and taxpayers cannot.
“If it comes in on its own dime, that’d be find and dandy,” Curtis Eaton said.
Eaton, who runs Midwest Electric Supply, told commissioners the incentive package was unfair. Other small business people also took issue with the plan to lure Lowe’s.
But others were all for any plan that might give Ark City’s economy and overall morale a shot in the arm. Some just wanted a new a place to shop.
“We want to turn the town around,” Jim Sybrant said during his three minutes of time at the podium.
Sybrant, who flips houses in the area, says he’s spent $16,000 at Lowe’s in the past year but also spends with other local businesses.
Mark Paton, vice president of Ark City Industries, agreed the project was needed to spur opportunity and progress in Ark City. Ark City Industries had planned to sell property to the project’s developers.
“I’m concerned about the direction Ark City is going,” Paton said. “We need to turn it around.”
City commissioner Patrick McDonald favored the proposal, which he saw as an opportunity for growth. He was disappointed to see the opposition prevail.
“We’ll get another opportunity,” he said and shook his head, following the meeting. “Like, maybe in another twenty years.”
Commissioners considered the idea of establishing a board policy on retail companies seeking tax and economic incentives. Industrial companies ? which are generally considered to generate better paying and more stable jobs ? routinely are granted tax incentives.
But in Winfield, those incentives are not offered to retailers and the city has turned down requests from retailers in the past ? most recently one from a hotel chain. Developers for the Lowe’s project acknowledged they had a contract on property in Winfield but city officials say developers lost interest because incentives were not offered.
Some Ark City commissioners said they may consider a policy similar to Winfield’s early next year.
