WISCONSIN SITE FIGHT: DEBATING WHETHER TO SUBSIDIZE THE BIGGEST COMPANY IN THE WORLD

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Subsidizing Wal-Mart project is fuel for debate [Washburn County Register (Wisc.)]

SHELL LAKE – The Washburn County Board made a motion Tuesday, Sept. 16, to meet with the city of Spooner and legal counsel to work on a joint recommendation for helping keep the Wal-Mart project in Spooner going.

Wal-Mart has been dealing with the city and county for a few years on building a store in Spooner, on CTH H between Hwys. 63 and 53. The company’s representatives recently met with the city administrators, the county and the Department of Transportation to let them know the expenses for infrastructure improvements at the site were beyond budget, and had gotten to be around $4 million. According to the executive committee, Wal-Mart was having trouble justifying some things within the budget that were putting the project in jeopardy, and wondered if there was any way the town and county could help.

At the committee’s meeting the week before, Supervisor Tom Mackie had said he was under the impression the company needed $1 million from the city, county or both to continue.

During citizens comments Tuesday, Scott Plaster, Madge, said he understood the county would make $900,000 if the land sale to Wal-Mart went through, and it didn’t make sense for the county to take $1 million to subsidize one of the richest corporations in the world.

“If the city [of Spooner] wants to get involved in this, that’s fine,” Plaster said.

Plaster said he had heard that in Rice Lake, when the Wal-Mart Supercenter was built and the old store became vacated, the company agreed to pay $100,000 a year for as long as the building remained empty. He said the company later reneged on this.

“Call the bluff or let the city deal with it,” Plaster said.

Board Chair Micheal Bobin said that the county and city always understood that Wal-Mart would pick up the costs. He added that he was still in support of bringing the retailer to Spooner, as it would bring in tax revenue.

“I do not … waiver in my support for the project,” Bobin said.

Bobin said he did some math on the sales tax revenue, and guessed about $20 million in sales from Wal-Mart would be related to the county, bringing it to roughly $100,000 a year.

A representative from Wal-Mart said a couple of weeks ago that the company was looking at changes to the infrastructure requirements. The original plan - along with the median at CTH H and Hwy. 53 being closed to allow for right turns in and out only and a roundabout on CTH H - had CTH H being aligned with CTH A, which is further south, and a stoplight at the intersection. The DOT has approved two alternative plans that could lower infrastructure costs, one of which keeps CTH A and CTH H where they are.

Bobin said that at this time, the county didn’t have additional funds to contribute to the project, due to the levy cap.

Mackie said it seemed to him that Wal-Mart does something like this everywhere it goes, and with the budget deficit, he wondered where the county would come up with funding for the store.

Supervisor Dan Hubin said the taxpayers should not have to incur expenses for any part of Wal-Mart’s project. He also said he’d felt, ever since the county granted Wal-Mart a seventh and eighth extension on the developer’s agreement, that they were looking for ways to get out of the deal.

Supervisor Greg Krantz said that money could be recaptured if other businesses move into that area.

“We’ve had too many fights with this deal to throw it all away,” he said, referring to two lawsuits filed by anti-Wal-Mart organization Washburn County First and the opposition the project has seen.

Krantz suggested reappraising the land value at the site, as it had been $900,000. Bobin said maybe this way, the land price could be dropped.

Bobin said he knew this wasn’t an easy task.

“They’re just businesspeople,” he said of the company.

He said this was a tough call, but asked if the county would be willing to give up extra revenue if it pulled the project.

Krantz made the motion to send the matter to the executive committee, to work out ideas with the city of Spooner and corporation counsel. The motion passed 18-3, with supervisors Bobin, Krantz, Hubin, Michael Waggoner, Skip Fiedler, Tom Ricci, Barbara Love, William Allard, Clay Halverson, Robert Washkuhn, Tim Brabec, Ed Olund, Romaine Quinn, James Sundeen, Chuck Melton, William Campbell, Steve Sather and Robert Lester voting yes, and supervisors Mackie, Mary Zehm and Don Quinton voting no. Both youth representatives, Jacob Deutsch and Nikki Scheu, also voted yes.

Bobin said he hoped to have a recommendation later this month.

WCF Chair Steve Carlson later said in a statement, “It’s outrageous that the Washburn County Board of Supervisors would even consider extending corporate welfare to one of the world’s wealthiest companies. I’d encourage every Washburn County resident who’s opposed to this to attend the next executive committee meeting.”

Posted by Luke West on Thursday, September 25, 2008