hotrodlincoln
Moderator
Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Posts: 1699
Location: Not in Austin anymore
|
 Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2008 11:13 am Post subject: Cabela's - a truly HONEST corporate citizen |
 |
|
| Quote: |
Cabela's giving back tax incentives
The outdoor retailer missed its job-creation targets again, may have to repay state fund.
By Dan Zehr
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
The Cabela's Inc. store in Buda will have to pay back $173,000 in local tax incentives after it missed job targets for the third consecutive year, and it's likely the outdoors retail chain will have to return some of the money it received from the Texas Enterprise Fund as well.
The company in January told local government officials that its sprawling Buda store and museum had 190.4 full-time positions at the end of 2007. The incentive contract between Cabela's and the local governments requires the company to maintain the equivalent of 225 full-time employees.
Cabela's will pay $5,000 per full-time position below the target, Buda Finance Director Sarah Mangham said. She said the city will receive $77,521; Hays County will get $38,648; and the Buda Economic Development Corp. will receive $56,831. Including these amounts, Cabela's has returned $260,500 of the grants provided by the Buda and Hays County governments.
"We're glad they're here, but we have those clawbacks in there for a reason," Mangham said, referring to provisions that require companies to repay part of incentive grants if they don't meet job creation or other requirements. "If they don't hit the job targets, the clawbacks come in."
Cabela's opened its Buda and Fort Worth locations in 2005, moving into Texas with much fanfare and with a truckload of tax incentives awaiting it. All told, the state and local government packages amounted to $61 million for the development of the Buda store.
The company also could have to repay some of the $400,000 it received from the Texas Enterprise Fund. Cabela's has to have a combined total of 400 full-time positions at its Buda and Fort Worth locations, including 160 at each store. The retailer will owe $332 per position below that benchmark, per its agreement with the enterprise fund.
Whether or how much it owes won't be official until Cabela's files its employment figures with the state — a report that's almost three months overdue. The retailer was supposed to send those figures by Jan. 31, said Allison Castle, a spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Perry. Cabela's also missed the deadline last year, she said, filing on Feb. 19, 2007.
"The bottom line is they do owe us a compliance report, a detailed verification of employees," she said. "Sometimes it just takes a reminder letter."
A Cabela's spokesman did not return a phone call seeking comment.
In past years, the state sent reminder letters to enterprise fund companies before their deadlines, most of which are Jan. 31. Those letters did not go out this year because "the individual responsible for maintaining compliance quit, and we had a transition there," Castle said.
Of the 42 recipients of enterprise fund money, she said, 10 other companies also have yet to file employment figures. She said the state sent a reminder letter to Cabela's last week.
"Generally, we don't have trouble once we send a reminder," Castle said.
Cabela's signed a deal that could have given it as much as $600,000 from the enterprise fund. It forfeited $200,000 of that when it failed to hit some early employment benchmarks. Of the $400,000 it received, it has paid back $70,384 for two years of job-target misses, according to a record of enterprise fund projects.
Cabela's rapidly growing retail store business leveled off toward the end of 2007, according to its annual report and calls with analysts.
Although its store sales increased 27 percent to surpass $1 billion in 2007, the gain came mainly from the eight new stores it opened during the year. Its sales dipped 1.2 percent at stores open the entire year, and Cabela's scaled back its expansion plans to two new stores in 2008.
The company's slowing growth could be showing up in Buda, too. The city's sales-tax revenue mushroomed with the arrival of the outdoors store, a Wal-Mart and the surrounding retail developments. The state returned $3.5 million in sales taxes to the city last year, almost triple the amount it received in 2004.
However, for the first four months, the state distributed $1.14 million in sales taxes to the city, down almost 9 percent from the same period last year.
Cabela's overall sales taxes in Texas could rise this year regardless of sales at the Buda and Fort Worth stores. Because the company is adding in-store services for customers who order online or over the phone, it will have to pay taxes on those direct sales, the company said in its annual report. Those sales previously were exempt from state sales taxes.
The company has made no secret of the fact that its retail store plans rely heavily on tax incentives.
The company recorded $98 million of economic development bonds as of Dec. 29, according to its annual report. It also had $13 million in grant funding that was subject to various types of clawbacks, the report said.
dzehr@statesman.com; 512-912-5932
Who's late?
Of the 42 companies that received grants from the Texas Enterprise Fund, 11 had not filed a 2007 employment report as of Friday. Most were due Jan. 31.
Company Initial grant
Texas Instruments $50 million
CITGO Petroleum $5 million
Cabela's $600,000
Maxim Integrated Products $1.5 million
JTEKT Automotive $333,000
Ineos USA $750,000
Lee Container $300,000
Sanderson Farms $500,000
Authentix $1 million
Newly Weds Foods $450,000
Alloy Polymers $200,000
Source: Governor's office
|
http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business/stories/other/04/22/0422cabelas.html
So the little town of Buda, south of Austin, is smarter than towns in Canada, Tennessee and North Carolina. No wonder Dell never opened up a building down there!
 |
|
FAQ
Search
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
