PEE DEE GOVERNMENT FAIL …
|| By FITSNEWS || Florence, S.C. is a magnet for economic activity … assuming it’s of the government-subsidized variety.
That’s because the city (and county bearing the same name) is represented by the single most powerful man in state government – State Senate president (and finance committee chairman) Hugh Leatherman. Leatherman’s presence at the S.C. State House guarantees a steady stream of taxpayer subsidized pork to the area – including funding for the the recently completed Florence County Museum.
But the local governments (usually with state support) are all about the boondoggling, too. Take the Florence Civic Center, a 10,000-seat multi-purpose arena that has housed several unsuccessful minor league hockey and football franchises. Completed in 1993 at a cost of $22 million ($36 million in current dollars), the arena has been running deficits for years – even after city and county governments imposed a hospitality tax in 2004 to further subsidize its operation.
Not only that, the facility recently underwent a $6 million government subsidized renovation … promising to use its enhanced facilities to lure bigger acts to the area.
Despite all this, it’s still operating in the red … imposing an annual $750,000 obligation on taxpayers.
The arena’s leaders say the facility is a bargain at that price because it generates an “estimated economic rollover effect” of $66.8 million a year, according to a puff piece in The Florence Morning News.
Really?
Sounds like “Pee Dee math” to us … the sort of addition and multiplication they teach in region known statewide as the “Corridor of Shame.”
Assuming the center is generating that kind of cash, though, with all due respect: Let the people making the money pick up the tab.
Of particular interest? The explanation for the Civic Center’s annual loss provided by its general manager, Kendall Wall.
“Buildings like this are not designed to make a profit,” Wall told his local paper. “When they do make a profit, you have to look closely at how the numbers were calculated.”
Ah, yes … government in action.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: The subsidization of sporting, entertainment or conference venues is not a core function of government – no matter how much money these facilities make (or lose) in a given year.
27 comments
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Sick, sick, sick – funny, but sick…
A friendly park ranger explained to me the difference between a black bear and a brown bear. One will attack but the other tries to avoid humans. He suggested wearing a necklace of jingle bells to alert the bears that a human is around. The way the rangers can tell which kind of bear is in the neighborhood is to examine their scat. If it contains little jingle bears then they know.
Jim, you must have been a really fun date —
The few times I’ve driven through Florence instead of bypassing it(which really, is the smarter thing to do) on my way to the beach, I’m always amazed at what a sizeable shit hole it really is.
It’s comical that Leatherface shoved a very small, low quality “diamond” into this dung heap and everyone’s surprised that nobody wants to wade through shit to get to it.
Pedro has a better solution, next to the dinosaur park, where you can park your dinosaurs (like Hugh). Maybe, Whippa Clyburn can distract from his funneling millions of slush into SC State’s scandal by bailing the civic center out with bringing the DNC back to SC for a nominating convention. Plenty of talent on Television road and lotta rooms in the region, ’nuff to meet Darlington 500 needs.
Never bypass Florence – go straight through, there’s a Krispy Kreme at 1709 W Palmetto St (SR-76) and I’ve never been by there when the “Hot Now” sign wasn’t on. (There’s a Dunkin’ Donuts a couple of blocks away at 2123 W Evans St if you’re a Yankee)
The “Drive In” at 135 E Palmetto St (also SR-76) has great hamburgers and shakes.
Booty Brothers Western Store at 4001 E Palmetto St (SR-76) has great deals on Justin Ropers.
The rest of the hole you can have but depending on the time of day and my gastronomical or sartorial needs, Florence can be a great place to visit.
Is Percy and Willies still there? Other than that – not a fan of Florence. Stopped at the Waffle House last February after a harrowing snow drive out of DC during the big ice and snow event – ordered 3 eggs over easy – pretty much raw. Sausage patties were OK though. No, every time I stopped there I walk away saying “these people are dumber than rocks.”
Percy & Willies is gone from the original location, it’s been relocated out in front of Magnolia Mall. I worked at WPDE, 1996-1998, when it was still headquartered in Florence. I enjoyed my time there, but wouldn’t want to live there again.
Understandable. Very understandable.
I must have missed it – what is Percy and Willies?
It’s a favorite Florence dining spot. Nothing earth shattering, but consistent above average quality and customer service.
If we’re to discuss above average quality as it pertains to eating establishments – you need to change your handle.
HAHA!
The big ag supply house that’s basically a Lowes for farmers is worth a glance too if you are interested in that kind of stuff. Near the airport. Where else can one buy 20 different kinds of harrow blades (the posters here would like the “coulters”) or my favorite oddity among their various items, cauldrons. I don’t know of another place you can walk in and get a cauldron!
You never know when you’ll need a cauldron….
Florence City Council is run by Democrats. Much of the Pee Dee is. Sadly the Pee Dee, based on its agrarian roots, has many old former Slaveholding families in power, along with the descendants of the slave, risen to control….
Former slave and former slaveholder now VOTE 1,000% Democrat…and those lands that bore the fruit of Slave labor still suffer the punishment for their crime of accepting bondage, and inflicting it…so long ago…(see Corridor of Shame)…
Some choose bondage instead of freedom. That is why the Democrat Party still exists…
I’m shocked! … Shocked!
Don’t make fun of the Florence arena. It’s a great place to hold a job fair.
Yep, where else could the tea baggers have their gun show.
Convention centers and arenas almost never make money on their own. Orlando or Vegas might have an exception, but nearly all of them do not cover their expenses.
They are large buildings and the rental fees and concession revenues can’t cover the overhead. That is why the private sector will NOT build them. The real revenue they generate, which is considerable, is disbursed to a large number of businesses, primarily restaurants and hotels. The ‘revenue’ is not given to one entity, it is spread across the whole community.
If the centers got a cut of every meal and room that was purchased by a center’s visitors, then a break even or profitable situation could occur. This is why a hospitality tax is the appropriate means to cover the loss. It is paid by the people that stay in the rooms and eat in the restaurants, when they wouldn’t otherwise be in that city to begin with.
Other benefits accrue to the community as well, such as jobs and the other taxes paid (property and general sales taxes) by the hotels, restaurants etc.
When this particular center was built, there was very little development around it. Today there are hundreds of hotel rooms, restaurants, a large movie theater complex and many other retailers. There is no way to know specifically how much of that would have occurred without the center, but it certainly had some impact.
As long as the deficit is covered by tourist oriented taxes, it is not an outrageous or undue situation.
Real problem is Florence doesn’t know how to tap into the $1 billion in New Market Tax Credits that flowed to Greenville………….Will, will you ever give Greenville a big article blasting them for Taking. Nearly. Every. Penny. of stimulus money intended for all of S.C……….oh, I forgot, Sen DeMint is your idol for his hatred of taking government handouts.
If you want to blast Greenville for taking “every” Penny….why not look at Charleston? Greenville per capita last I read, are VERY conservative.
They set the example of what the state “could” be.
Just because someone (Greenville natives) call themselves conservative……does not make it true……….hell, Sen DeMint was the leading conservative bashing the government for giving handouts and spending money, while hiding behind the curtain ensuring his neck of the woods sucked up all the stimulus money……..99% of Carolinians have no clue what new market tax credits are and where they have been gobbled up (Greenville)……fitsnews knows and refuses to expose this one, I can’t understand Will` hypocrisy
People go to Florence? On purpose?
Don’t worry Florence it will be okay! Leatherman and his lapdog Curtis Loftis will bail you out at the Budget and Control Board. Loftis does what Leatherman tells him and there has never been a bailout the fiscal conservative hasn’t voted for. All you have to do is ask for a bailout and Loftis will send you the money!