THE DANEIL HAYES TEAM

According to www.dnj.com, "Developers may have missed their chance to have the entire Bible Park USA project considered by the Rutherford County Commission in May.

Developers of the $175 million to $200 million Bible theme park had said they hoped the County Commission would approve the financing package at its May 15 meeting, when the commission is set to consider the zoning for the 282 acres in the Blackman community.

Rutherford County Mayor Ernest Burgess, who met with park developer Armon Bar-Tur Monday, said he anticipated a complete proposal for the public funding portion of the Bible Park USA project would be coming within the week. But he was doubtful that would be enough time to review the package before May 15, when the commission will consider zoning for the park.

"There's probably not enough time for people to reflect on all this," he said.

In a Daily News Journal poll last week, several Rutherford County commissioners said the type of financial package the developers request is key to their support or opposition to the project.

In response to questions about when the financial package would be given to the county, Bar-Tur released a statement saying: "We are continuing our discussions with the county government on a plan that works for them and works for us; we are confident that we will be able to come to an understanding that is good for Rutherford County."

A workshop of the entire commission will likely be held to discuss the public financing package for the development, possibly May 6, though that date hasn't been finalized, Burgess said. He said the matter would also be considered by the Rutherford County Budget Committee prior to any vote by the full commission.

The park, which developers hope to open by 2010 in the Blackman community, has raised opposition from many neighbors and others, but has received strong support from the business community.

Burgess said he had received some indication from the developers as to what they would be seeking from the county, but discussion of details would be premature until a solid proposal is made to the county.

Piece of the pie

The developers may be looking for three different types of financial help from the county to make the development happen.

"It will come in one package," Burgess said. "All those pieces will be identified together, I believe."

Developers have indicated they will be looking for the county to issue an $18 million bond to be paid down through tax increment financing (TIF) inside an economic development zone including the park and several hundred acres around it.

The increased property tax revenue from inside that area - which would be higher because of the development - would go to pay down that bond. A study commissioned by the Rutherford County Industrial Development Board projected the county would forego $27.9 million in property tax revenue through tax increment financing (TIF) over the course of 22 years to pay down that $18 million bond.

The county would forego that money in hopes of recouping $122 million in tax revenue over that same period, according to economic impact studies based on the developers' projections that park attendance would be 1.5 million after five years. The bonds would be "no recourse" bonds, which means the county would not be responsible for paying them if the development doesn't work.

The property tax TIF would have to be approved by the commission on a simple majority vote. The deal would then go back to the IDB to finalize the details of a contract between the county and developers, IDB attorney Sumner Bouldin said.

Developers may also ask the county to establish a tourism development zone, inside which tax-increment financing from sales tax could go to pay down a bond.

The sales tax plan would take a simple majority vote by the commission and would not go back to the IDB, according to County Attorney Jim Cope.

A proposed privilege tax would take two-thirds majority votes by the full commission at two separate meetings, he said. The privilege tax could allow the park to charge up to 5 percent more on some or all purchases inside the park."

Wendy Haney and Cody Sullens already know what they are going to buy during next weekend's sales tax holiday - a Dell desktop computer.

The couple will purchase their new computer at Wal-Mart, where they are employees. They are looking forward to saving even more money with their 10 percent employee discount.

Haney and Sullens will join the ranks of other Tennesseans who will head shopping during the state's tax-free holiday that begins at 12:01 a.m. Friday and ends at 11:59 p.m. Sunday.

The holiday will lift Rutherford County's 9.75 percent sales tax from clothing priced at $100 or less, school and art supplies priced at $100 or less and computers $1,500 or less.

Each of the two tax-free holidays last year saved taxpayers between $8 million to $10 million, said Glen Page, deputy commissioner for the state Department of Revenue.

"(It) helps people who can't afford to by a lot of things," Page said. And it "puts money back into the hands of the taxpayer."

He hopes income tax returns and rebates will motivate consumers to spend more during the holiday, but he's not sure if it will.

Jimmy Yang, owner of Computer Room in Smyrna, thinks consumers having extra money from the federal government might spur them to shop, but with a "bad economy," he's not too sure that consumers will have extra funds to spend even with a tax-free holiday.

Yang's business sells used computers ranging from $49 to $200.

"I don't think we will sell much on the tax holiday," he said.

But other business owners say they will see an increase in sales next weekend.

Mary Esther Reed, owner of The Learning Circle next to Hastings on Memorial Boulevard in Murfreesboro, said she sees an increase in business during the sales tax holidays.

She said the holiday gives parents an incentive to go ahead and purchase their child's school supplies.

"The sales tax holiday is a perfect opportunity for parents to come in and purchase products to finish up the school year or maybe get started on purchasing for the next school year for their children," said Reed, who is also a member of the Smyrna Town Council.

Page added schools are encouraged to release their fall school supplies list early so that parents can shop for the items this weekend.

There will also be a sales tax holiday Aug. 1-3.

The upcoming holiday was originally set for March 21-23 during Easter weekend, but the General Assembly changed the dates.

The date was changed because many stores are closed on Easter weekend so consumers wouldn't have gotten three full days of the sales tax holiday.

This year's tax-free spree got attached to Easter weekend as an amendment to a hotly debated tax bill at the Legislature last June. Some legislators said they didn't realize Easter was so early this year.

Page said one unique distinction about Tennessee's program, which started August 2006, is that the state government reimburses local governments the money they would have gotten, pumping money back into the local economy.

"It's definitely a win-win situation for the consumer and the business," Reed said.

Less than a month before developers of Bible Park USA hope to have the project approved by the Rutherford County Commission, many commissioners say they still don't know enough about the development.

Developers of the $175 million to $200 million Bible theme park have said they hope the County Commission will approve the financing package and rezoning request at its May 15 meeting.

The county is still waiting on a formal proposal from the developers as to how much of a tax break the developers will be asking for and what the details of that deal would be.

The park, which developers hope to open by 2010 in the Blackman community, has raised opposition from many neighbors and others, but has received strong support from the business community.

In a poll of county commissioners by The Daily News Journal, about one third of the 21 commissioners said they are either against the development or leaning that way. Three said they are in favor of the project, and the rest said they just don't know yet.

County Mayor Ernest Burgess' opinion summed up the sentiments of many of the commissioners.

"I'm not going to make a decision on that until I see the financial proposal," he said. "It all has to be considered together."

Developers have indicated they will be looking for the county to forgo $27.9 million in property tax revenue through tax increment financing (TIF) over the course of 22 years to pay down an $18 million bond.

The county would forgo that money in hopes of recouping $122 million in tax revenue over that same period, according to economic impact studies based on the developers' projections that park attendance would be 1.5 million after five years.

Under the TIF plan, the local government would authorize the sale of bonds to help pay for the park. The increased property tax revenues generated because of the value of the land of the Bible Park USA and inside an impact zone around the park would go toward the park's debt.

The developers may also ask for an additional privilege tax on sales inside the park, and a portion of sales tax revenue in TIF from an area around the development.

Officials plan to discuss the financing package for the park at the county's Steering and Legislative Committee on May 5, possibly in a joint meeting with the Budget Committee - but it's still unclear what financing package they will be looking at.

The full commission may also hold a work session to discuss the financing plan.

A rezoning request for the 282-acre park was denied Monday by the county's Regional Planning Commission in an 8-7 vote. The County Commission will have final say on that as well. The rezoning proposal is set to go before the commission May 15.

Commissioner Allen McAdoo said he couldn't judge the package on what he heard, but needed to see what the real deal would be.

He also said he needed to know more about the business, what type of jobs it would be offering and who would be filling those jobs.

"I'm undecided until I see the complete picture," he said.

The developers have said about 250 full-time jobs would be created by the fifth year of operation, with as many as 1,200 seasonal or part-time jobs.

Average annual salaries for the park's permanent full-time employees would be $39,651 at the end of the first year of operation and $47,093 by the fifth year, according to developers.

Nearly 400 people gathered Wednesday afternoon on Medical Center Parkway in Murfreesboro to celebrate a long-awaited birth.

It was an ideal day to be born - the sun beamed, a cool breeze blew, fireworks were released and a jazz trio played smooth tunes.

They were commemorating the birth of a new hospital - Middle Tennessee Medical Center.

Hospital officials broke ground on the new $278 million, 560,000-square-foot facility, which is expected to be completed by August 2010.

"Actually, if you think about it, today probably is very similar to a birth," said Murfreesboro Mayor Tommy Bragg. "Today we recognize that we are going to bring a new facility into the world, and it's going to be a world-class facility."

The new hospital will replace the current 368,000-square-foot facility on North Highland Avenue in the downtown area. The number of beds will also increase from 216 to 286.

"The biggest thing for us is that the facility is going to be more accessible," said MTMC project director Jennifer Garland.

But that accessibility isn't just in terms of its location off Interstate 24 in Murfreesboro's Gateway district, but from when patients enter the front door to when they leave, she said.

The new facility will be "more patient and staff friendly" in its design, Garland said.

"It will provide a safe and efficient space for our staff so they can provide better patient care," she said.

She expects that patients will be seen in the new location by November 2010.

MTMC President and CEO Gordon Ferguson told those at Wednesday's ceremony that the new hospital will be a great addition to Rutherford County - even though hospital officials had to wait almost 10 years to get to this point.

Planning for the new facility started in 1998, he said.

"We never, never, never gave up," Ferguson said.

The hospital, which opened in 1927 with 37 beds, was originally known as Rutherford Hospital. In 1982, it changed to its current name. It was purchased by Baptist and St. Thomas hospitals in 1986.

MTMC got a $10 million boost last December toward the project from the Christy-Houston Foundation, which was formed with proceeds from the sale of the hospital 22 years ago.

The foundation's grant will be given in $1 million increments over the next decade. Ferguson accepted the first installment at Wednesday's ceremony.

The 21,000-square-foot emergency department at the new facility will be named in honor of the foundation.

The foundation previously gave the hospital $5.4 million to buy the 68-acre site on Medical Center Parkway.

"We have waited a long time for this," said Cynthia Melton, assistant director in surgical services.

Melton has worked at MTMC for 24 years in the operating room.

"It's a big enough hospital to provide all of the services, but it's small enough that we're one big family," she said. "I really like it now that it's a faith-based organization. It's nice to know that you can go to work and talk about your faith."

Melton, who participated in the design phase, said the operating room will have a different layout.

"It's going to be a better design both for the patient and the staff," she said.

Ann Sloan, a nurse manager for patient care services, is also excited about the new building. But it's going to take getting used to being on the fifth floor rather than the second.

"It's going to be wide open spaces," Sloan said. "You can see outside everywhere. Right now, a lot of the rooms are facing a brick wall so it will be nice for every patient to have a beautiful view of the outside. That will be nice because no one wants to be there when you get right down to it."

Sloan, who was been at MTMC for 10 years, said the patient rooms will be bigger, the nursing stations will be smaller and there will be less chaos.

Sloan said loves going to work every day.

"It's like a big hug when I come to work. It's caring. I ain't lying about it," she said.

Voters changed the makeup of the Murfreesboro City School Board Tuesday by electing two new leaders, Butch Campbell and Nancy Youree Duggin.

Campbell, who won the most votes, and Duggin, who was runner-up, joined incumbents Nancy Phillips and Susan Andrews in winning four-year terms on the seven-member school board.

Incumbent Patrick McCarthy, however, came in seventh out of 10 candidates listed on the ballot with 1,067 votes (7 percent).

The winners will be sworn in to begin service at the May 27 meeting. Each board member earns $200 per month when they attend any number of meetings.

"It's something I wanted to do," said Campbell, a principal for Rutherford County Schools' Walter Hill Elementary School, to the north of Murfreesboro.

Campbell had 2,802 votes, which represented 18.45 percent.

"I have a tremendous amount of friends who have elected me and supported me in a variety of different ways," said Campbell, who began his 40-year career in education as a teacher with City Schools. "A lot of people are putting their trust in me to do things for Murfreesboro City Schools. I want to work with the school board and central office staff. I want to work for students, teachers, all school-board employees, and do the best I can to help them in whatever way we can."

Duggin had 2,694 votes, which was 17.74 percent.

"I'm excited," said Duggin, a former district teacher who works as an educational consultant. "I just want to thank every person who cast a vote for me and for the confidence their vote shows. I look forward to the opportunity to serve and to the challenges that lie ahead."

A former 15-year columnist for The Daily News Journal, Duggin said she was disappointed in the low voter turnout. Less than 5,000 went to the polls.

"As a teacher, I always worked to teach my second-graders the important of voting," said Duggin, who's also a retired Tennessee Education Association staff member who oversaw teacher training.

Phillips finished third with 1,989 votes, which was 13.1 percent.

"I appreciate each and every person who took the time and trouble to push that button for me," Phillips said. "I look forward to serving with the new board members, but I tell you the board lost a great advocate for Murfreesboro City Schools with Patrick not finishing in the top four. It's been an honor to serve with him."

Andrews finished fourth with 1,863 votes, which was 12.27 percent.

"I'm going to miss working with Patrick McCarthy," said Andrews, a local family physician. "He did a lot for our board. I'm going to look forward to working with Butch Campbell and Nancy Duggin. They both have a lot of experience in education. They both have lot to bring to the board."

Kathy Burriss finished fifth with 1,699 votes (11.2 percent), Tim Roediger was sixth with 1,213 votes (8 percent), Claudia Hunter was eighth with 929 votes (6.1 percent) and Andrew Jacks, who received 540 votes (3.6 percent).

The late Lon Nuell was also on the ballot. The longtime board member, however, died of a stroke after recently breaking his hip. Nuell finished 10th with 370 votes, which was 2.44 percent.