$4.5 MILLION EXPENSE LATEST TAXPAYER COST ASSOCIATED WITH HOTEL PROJECT
City leaders in Sumter, S.C. are putting their constituents on the hook for up to $4.5 million in borrowing costs associated with a new parking lot.
Not only that, the parking facility is intended as the latest sop to a multi-billion dollar company that’s preparing to build a $12 million hotel in the area.
According to The Sumter Citizen, this new “multi-level” facility is intended to serve a new 93-room Hyatt hotel in downtown Sumter. In fact, the city has previously agreed to suspend its procurement code in connection with the controversial project – and has awarded the contract for the garage to the same company building the hotel.
Not only that, city leaders have transferred a piece of government-owned property to the hotel as well – after borrowing $550,000 to purchase and destroy a pair of existing buildings on another property.
Thirty jobs were also destroyed in that process.
What the hell, right? Indeed. What the hell …
Citizens in Sumter are dirt poor. Hyatt, on the other hand, is filthy rich – and getting richer.
According to the company’s latest financial data, it reported net income of $67 million in the second quarter of 2016 – up from $40 million during the same quarter last year.
“We reported solid second quarter results while continuing to execute our long-term growth strategy,” Hyatt CEO Mark S. Hoplamazian said in a statement accompanying his company’s latest data release.
Good … then Hoplamazian can build his own goddamned parking lot.
(Banner image via iStock)