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Rental car tax could get new arena rolling
Plan shifts burden to out-of-towners, away from city residents
 

By Darryl Fears and Henry Unger, Staff Writers
Copyright 1995 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Article date: November 7, 1995
 

Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell on Monday proposed a citywide car rental tax to help finance a new $200 million Hawks basketball arena project downtown.

The proposed 3 percent tax, which Campbell pitched during a luncheon meeting with City Council members, would be applied to all short-term car rentals originating in Atlanta and College Park, where most rental agencies serving Hartsfield International
Airport are located.

If approved, the tax would provide the missing piece to the arena financing package that would keep the pro basketball team downtown.

"This financing plan is ideal," Campbell said. "It allows us to keep the Hawks downtown without any burden on Atlanta residents. Eighty percent of all rental cars sales are from residents outside of the city."

The tax would repay up to $50 million in bonds for public improvements around the arena. Turner Broadcasting, which owns the Hawks, would contribute another $10 million to $15 million for the improvements, including walkways connecting the arena to MARTA stations, the Georgia Dome, Georgia World Congress Center and CNN Center.

The remaining $135 million needed to build the arena would come from revenue bonds that would be repaid by income generated at the arena through such sources as tickets sales, concessions and some 100 luxury suites.

"If the city can put their part together, then I think we are ready to go," said Bunky Helfrich, president of TBS Properties.

The two downtown arena options under consideration are to knock down the Omni coliseum and build the new arena there, or to build it in the railroad gulch between CNN Center and Five Points.

The rental tax would generate an estimated $6 million annually. Of that, College Park would get about $200,000 a year. The plan must be approved by the Atlanta and College Park city councils, as well as the state Legislature.

"I don't see anything wrong with it," said House Speaker Tom Murphy (D-Bremen), reiterating his support for a new downtown Hawks arena. "We ain't got no car rentals in Haralson County."

The tax also appeals to College Park officials.

"I would like to see the Hawks stay in Atlanta, and at the same time see College Park get something out of it," City Manager Scott Miller said. "It's more than we get now, which is nothing."

But the car rental industry voiced opposition to the tax.

"While we all might want to keep the Hawks downtown, I don't think the rental car industry deserves to carry the whole load," said Joe Sports, lobbyist for Enterprise Rent-A-Car and former executive director of Georgia's car rental association.

If approved by the Legislature, any municipality in the state could levy such a tax.

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