Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 12, 1994 TAG: 9403120115
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG SCHNEIDER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
The idea was to offset the cheese - $131 million in roads and other inducements - with a mechanism to protect taxpayers' investment.
"We've done better" than the deal Allen wanted to strike with Disney, said Del. Clinton Miller, R-Woodstock, "but I still think we could have done a whole lot better, had we had more time."
Miller was one of three delegates and three senators appointed to find a package that both houses of the Legislature could accept. After several days of bickering and nail-biting, the group plans to approve the scheme formally this morning. The full General Assembly is expected to endorse it before adjourning tonight.
The arrangement gives Allen all the basic elements he requested to pave the way for the "Disney's America" history theme park:
$131.5 million for improvements to Interstate 66 and other roads in the area.
$13 million for a marketing campaign, an amount Disney will have to match.
$1.8 million for work-force training.
Of the road money, $49.1 million would be guaranteed by Disney. That means that if the theme park failed to generate enough tax revenue to cover the estimated $3.8 million in annual debt service on the debt, Disney must fork over enough to make up the difference.
The committee of lawmakers added the additional safeguard that if the net worth of the Walt Disney Co. ever falls below $1 billion - the company says it's now worth about $5.5 billion - Disney must post a surety bond to guarantee that the interest is paid.
The other major achievement of the legislators is to decree that the annual debt service on the remaining $82.4 million in road debt would be paid from the state motor fuel tax. Theoretically, that preserves money in the state's general fund - the main reservoir of income tax revenue - to cover statewide needs, such as public education.
In addition, the committee hacked $10.4 million in road-sign money out of Allen's proposal and resolved that Prince William County, not the state, has to pay it.
"I think that the Walt Disney Company has gotten an arrangement that works for us and is terrific for the commonwealth of Virginia," said Mark Pacala, a senior vice president for Disney. "I think we've got an excellent foundation for the public-private partnership we're trying to create."
Or, as one gleeful Allen administration official was overheard remarking as the committee announced its plan:
"It's a slam dunk."
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1994
by CNB