Questionable Value

The Indian Trail downtown project has recently had a value quoted as $140,000,000 dollars. Some are very upset that this project is stalled due to what appears to be major road issues. Not to mention all the other previous stuff that some think is more of an issue than it really is. So the question is ...What is the value of the downtown project to the town and the citizens that would venture to downtown? Does this project represent the one and only, the project that will make or break the town? Will it provide enough revenue to the town to keep the tax rate low for others? Strictly looking at the numbers I believe the answer is no. Would the revenue from the project be good, absolutely...beats a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.
Sales tax: the state collects the sales taxes then doles them out to each town based on a formula which the town has no control over. I believe the number that appears in the proposed budget is nothng more than an educated estimate. It is subject to change. So Indian Trail receives the benefit from the sales tax say from Walmart whether Walmart is in our borders or not. Same as the revenue from beer and wine sales. Though Indian Trail does not have a LBTD ordinance, the town still partakes in the taxes it produces elsewhere. I believe the number was $75,000. To put that number in perspective, the town of Matthews (LBTD and all the restaurants) brought to their coffers $150,000 for the year. The $75,000 represents for IT basically one officers salary. The value of the Downtown project $140,000,000 is a projection...and has to be projected out about 2-5 years. The project won't go up over night and the value will only be reached if completed and fully occupied, and well maintained. The $140,000,000 number has been attributed to a developer belief. There is no easy way of telling how much sales could be generated from this project to the town. The only thing the town has control over and the number they know for sure is the ad valorem taxes or property taxes. Based on the current $.10 tax rate that project would add to the town $140,000. (2 officers) If the tax rate is raised to the proposed $0.175 cents that would produce $245,000 dollars if my math is correct. Roughly what a one cent increase would produce. A major hurdle facing this project is roads. We have only 2 lanes that can service this road currently. The price tag to widen this road or build another road (one way road proposed by Larry Helms) is $8 million dollars. Based on the above numbers it would take 32 + years to generate enough money to pay for the road based on what the project pays the town. Its simple math, I was shocked when I saw it. Some would have you believe that the town should forget any road improvements and let the project move on. That however is shortsided and just plain stupid. The downtown has an overlay district, standards for that area is more restrictive than anywhere else in the town. A good thing the previous council passed.
Bottom line as I have said in the past. There are no easy fixes for road problems with this project or other projects facing similar road obstructions. In the end, the town is better off for seeking road improvements..not to mention, if you let one get away with special consideration, whats to stop the next development from asking for the same?