City joins county in break in taxes for developments|[06/11/08]
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Vicksburg officials voted Tuesday to join with Warren County to provide $485,000 for a new hotel and retail development, scheduled to open “any day now,” Mayor Laurence Leyens said.
The $25 million Cypress Centre Marketplace on South Frontage Road will include a Wingate by Windham hotel and a new location for El Sombrero Mexican Restaurant, set for a winter opening, according to a timeline set in April.
The owners of the developments will pay full taxes due on their developments, but for 10 years their taxes will go to repay bonds the city and county issue in the deal, not to general city or county uses. School taxes will be paid to the Vicksburg Warren School District.
The governments voted earlier this year to participate in tax increment financing up to $1 million, Leyens said. The amount has been reduced.
Original plans included opening a Ruby Tuesday’s next to the hotel, but that has fallen through and the land is listed for sale.
Long delayed by construction and financing issues, the Wingate has been in the works since 2005. Leyens said the bond money will not be handed over until the hotel officially opens.
Tax increment financing, often called TIF, has been used in most recent business developments, including the Wal-Mart SuperCenter shopping area, The Home Depot and River Region Medical Center. Bond issues have been by the city, the county or, in most cases, both local boards. To encourage development, boards have also created tax abatement programs for renovations, improvements or reconstruction on commercial sites. Taxes are waived for firms receiving those incentives.