From Page 2 of the Memorandum of Understanding:
"2. The City will provide $30 million for the land, design and construction of the Tanger Center. The City’s funding will be secured through one or more debt financings, and the debt will be serviced through a variety of user fees from cityowned parking, from ticket taxes, and from a portion of the existing hotel/motel tax. The City will pay its portion of the design and construction costs after the Donor Loan Commitment has been obtained and the funds to pay preconstruction amounts due under the design contracts have been transferred to the City as described in Section B.1."
The actual figure is closer to $58 Million Dollars when you add up what the City has already spent for land, real estate commissions, brokerage fees, studies, etc. And might I remind you that the money collected from parking fees and hotel/motel taxes are currently put to other uses that will need new means of support should this be passed.
"3. Both the City and the CFGG on behalf of the Private Donors will have to obtain financing to cover their share of the design and construction costs for the Tanger Center. It is understood that both the City and the Private Donors may need to use a portion of the Tanger Center as collateral for that financing. It is agreed that the ownership of the Tanger Center will vest in the City once the financing repayment obligations of the Private Donors are satisfied, which is expected to occur no later than 10 years after the opening of the Tanger Center."
So there's going to be $Million of Dollars in interest tacked on to that $30 Million the City must borrow. And what if the "Nonprofit" defaults? How will the Tanger Center be divided between the City and the creditors? Will it be divided into pieces? Or will the City have to pay the "Nonprofit's" share as well?
From Page 3:
"5. The Fundraising Committee will work with the City to recognize the City of Greensboro’s financial investment in the Tanger Center and honor the City’s War Veterans by locating appropriate recognition for the City of Greensboro and the City’s War Veterans in or around the Tanger Center."
In the meantime we slap Greensboro's veterans in their faces by deliberately destroying War Memorial Stadium and War Memorial Auditorium. You can bet there will be a lot of Greensboro veterans taking part in that upcoming city council recall election too.
From Page 4:
"d. Board members shall serve a three-year term, and shall serve no more than two terms consecutively. The term limit shall not apply to the Tanger Center’s name donor or his designee or to certain other representatives of the Private Donors, to be detailed in the bylaws of the Nonprofit. The term limit shall not prevent a Board member who has served two consecutive terms on the Board from serving as Board chair, as detailed below. The City representatives serve as ex officio voting members, with terms ending if they leave elected or appointed office;"
Looking a whole lot like Downtown Greensboro Incorporated aren't we? Let's see, 6 years on the board, 6 years as board chair, 6 more years on the board... work out the rotations just right and the board members change positions on the board but never leave the board.
"3. The mission of the Nonprofit will be to oversee the successful operation and maintenance of the Tanger Center as a top-quality performance venue. The specific responsibilities of the Board are as follows:"
Then there's a whole page of rules the City must follow.
So the city owns it, the city pays the bills, the city manages it but the "Nonprofit" tells the city what the city can and cannot do. Twenty some years ago I allowed a homeless woman to move into my home free of charge knowing full well that she was a lesbian. It was nothing more than an act of kindness and I expected nothing from her. I had a spare bedroom and left it to her. Over the course of the next few months she started bitching, nagging and telling me what I was going to do with the home that belonged to only me and the bank. Not for long, she didn't. I would have been a fool to allow her to take control of my home just as the Greensboro City Council will be fools to approve this deal.
From Page 6:
"4. As the manager and operator of the Tanger Center, the City will retain all revenue generated by the Tanger Center (including any programming sponsorship revenue) and will be responsible for all expenses incurred in operating the Tanger Center, except as otherwise provided in this section. The City shall impose a surcharge (or comparable ticket pricing mechanism) that results in net proceeds to the City of $1.00 per ticket on all tickets sold for events at the Tanger Center. The proceeds of the surcharge shall be used to create an Arts Stabilization Fund to be allocated annually by ArtsGreensboro (formerly known as the United Arts Council) to exclusively provide direct financial assistance to local professional arts organizations"
So not only are taxpayers stuck with any potential operating losses but they are also attempting to buy the support of our local arts organizations. With this you can expect public donations to local arts organizations to drop substantially as the public will see them as having sold out.
"5. Beginning with the fifth full year of operations of the Tanger Center, the Managing Director of the Tanger Center shall annually prepare a capital improvements budget for the Tanger Center, to be funded from proceeds of the hotel/motel tax. The Board shall review the proposed annual capital improvements budget and recommend approval or revisions to the City Manager, for final approval by the City Council."
So already, before Steven Tanger has even finished paying his 10 year commitment, the City of Greensboro must commit to capital improvements that will in all likelihood cost more annually than the entire $7.5 Million Dollars Steven Tanger claims to be donating. And aren't we stretching that Hotel/Motel tax pretty thin being that Greensboro only averages a 50% hotel occupancy rate?
I still think it's a good idea to boycott Fresh Market where Steven Tanger holds significant stocks and is on their board of directors.
From Page 7:
"4. If the City no longer desires to own, changes the purpose of, or no longer provides operational management services to the Tanger Center, the building ownership will be transferred to the Nonprofit, subject to approval by the Board. If the Nonprofit is not still in existence, then ownership of the building will be transferred to the CFGG, subject to approval by the CFGG board of directors."
So if it's loosing money and no one can fix it the only option the City has is to give it away. Convenient, considering this is the most expensive piece of commercial real estate in all of Guilford County.
"5. This MOU shall be binding on the undersigned parties (or their assigns) and remain in force for a term of 50 years, commencing on the date set forth below, unless otherwise agreed in writing by the undersigned parties (or their assigns)."
And we can't get out of it for 50 years. Would you sign a contract like this? Let the recall elections begin.
Update: The City of Greensboro taxpayers are being sold a bridge.
A Disgraceful Monument to Indifference
What Can Be Done About Greensboro's Corruption?
