Who can help me understand the

agreement between the City and

Hawaiian Falls?

Where will Hawaiian Falls be built?When can I see a map of

the proposed park?

Will Hawaiian Falls be open all year?

What will this do to my taxes?

Have Questions

We hope to answer some of your questions here!

?

Q:Why is our city contributing twice the amount that Roanoke contributed?

• The Roanoke Park and the White Settlement Park are not only two different parks, but the White Settlement Park will be open year-round

• The City is borrowing the money and HF Park will pay the debt payment; Since HF Park is making debt service payments, that is not a cost

to the City.•The City will obligate the Hotel/Motel Taxes on new construction hotels that are built AFTER HF Park opens;

Since Hotel/Motel Taxes obligated to the project are coming from new hotels after the park opens, that is new money we would not have had anyway.

• The City will get ad valorem and sales taxes from the new hotels and other new businesses.

Q: What is the annual average for our current hotel/motel taxes?

• The last 3 year average for the 4 hotels we have now is approximately $150,000 annually;

There is no guarantee that there will be more hotels, but we hope there will be;

The new HF Park brings people into WS to eat, sleep, and visit;

We feel that Cherry Lane will redevelop with HF Parks here and Flight Deck, etc.;

The hotels will pay property taxes and personal property taxes.

Q: What about Sales Tax?

• Sales tax from this park will be put in an escrow account for enhancements to the Park;HF Parks and City will share a 50/50 ratio; HF Parks will commit to invest without City

participation no less than $500,000 in new park improvement within the 1st five years of the lease.

Q: This is city owned land, why not sell it to HF for property tax?

• It is Park Land and the City cannot sell it • What better way than to have an establishment

that can bring people and businesses to WS. • Having a water/adventure park that brings traffic to

the City & creates demand for land and business.• Leasing the parkland to HF is better than leasing it

to baseball/softball leagues; The leagues cost the city with increased maintenance

and improvement expense HF water/adventure park lease brings in revenue

Q: How will using bonds (money that belongs to the citizens) benefit the citizens? Will our taxes increase?

• The Citizens will be able to enjoy an adventure/waterpark without increasing taxes to pay for it. If City paid debt payments, City would owe more

debt which comes from the tax rate.HF Parks is paying the debt service.

Q: How is the City Manager able to issue this debt with no election?

• City Council approves…City Manager does not issue debt! • The payments will be made by HF Parks, not the City. • This will allow the City to issue debt for infrastructure

projects. NOTE: When the council was talking about a swimming pool, EDC was

going to build the pool and expected General Fund to staff and upkeep. There was no way the City could afford this without cutting services. This is a way for the City to have a water / adventure park with someone else making the payments. In addition, the City will benefit from the sales taxes and ad valorem taxes of new

businesses within the city.

Q: Are there locations in the city for new restaurants/ fast food places to be built?

• Redevelop Cherry Lane.• Along Loop 820. • Near the Wells Fargo building. • Land beside Buford Thompson. • Area on the corner of Silvercreek where the

former trailer sales office was located.• Along Clifford.

Q: Will any homes need to be condemned or any rezoning be required?

• The water park is to be built on city park land. • No structures are located on this land in the

area of the proposed water/adventure park. No homes, business or other structures will need

to be condemnedNo rezoning will be required

Q: What about traffic flow?

• The main entrance is planned for Las Vegas Trail, just north of the Post Office. This will allow people to come to the park and exit the park on White Settlement Road and Clifford.

• In addition to Loop 820, traffic flow will also be able to use the Spur, Cherry Lane and Las Vegas Trail.

• There is not increased economic activity without increased traffic flow. All of these traffic routes have very desirable locations for

new retail and eating establishments. This is a good thing for City of White Settlement economic

development!!

Q: Why do we want increased traffic flow when our streets need so much repair?

• Street repairs fall under a different budget category and are being addressed.

• Increased traffic flow is a means for: WS to “show off” the great qualities of our city for

new businesses and visitors Businesses to be seen and visited which would;

increase sales tax revenueProvide an incentive for new businesses to move here

Q: Is there a guarantee that spending taxpayers money will bring businesses?

• Taxpayers money is not being spent! Hawaiian Falls is paying the debt service. This is a very basic point and people need to understand this is not

costing the taxpayers.• There is no guarantee it will or it won’t bring business• The city will benefit from increased traffic flow which will

lead to a demand for more businesses. This will result in higher demand for property which means

increased land values. More business means more ad valorem tax and more sales tax.

This is new money to the City.

Q: How will the city run, staff and maintain the park?

• The City will not run, maintain or staff the water park. • HF will run, staff and maintain the facility on City park

land. • The city is leasing the land to HF in order for HF to

construct a water / adventure park that they will run, staff and maintain.

• This is a public/private partnership where the city retains ownership of land and improvements.

Still have questions? Call us!

We hope we have answered your questions. If not, please contact us.

EDC Director, Jim Ryan at: 817-246-4971 x275 or jryan@wstx.us

Finance Director, Phil Bray at: 817-246-4971 x473 or pbray@wstx.us