WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) -- A closer look tonight at the commissioning of the USS Gravely. In November, the Navy will commission the 500-foot guided-missile destroyer here in the Port City.
The City of Wilmington is giving $25,000 of your taxpayer dollars to help pay for the event. Volunteer Louise McColl is helping head up the commissioning ceremony and plans to use the money to help feed sailors and VIPS in town and provide buses and trolleys for them throughout the 12 days of the event. McColl plans to ask New Hanover County for another $25,000.
The recession has been hard on both the city and county, and both have talked about raising taxes to help make ends meet. But dishing out $50,000 for food and transportation is something city council members and county commissioners say is well worth it.
So we crunched the numbers to find out the return on investment.
McColl says about 6,000 people will visit Wilmington to witness the commissioning. We broke that down to 2,000 families of three. The Cape Fear Coast Convention and Visitor's Bureau estimates the average family spends about $375 per day on hotel, food, gas and souvenirs. Over two days that generates $1.5 million.
Take out county sales tax, which increases to 2.25 percent Friday, and you get close to $34,000. That'll be divided up among the city, county and beach communities.
Room occupancy tax also generates income. Two-thousand people at an average of $100 per night for two nights of hotel rooms is $24,000. But that money won't go back into the city's or county's general fund. It goes toward beach renourishment, the Visitor's Bureau, and the Convention Center.
So after investing $50,000, it looks like the city and county will only directly get back $34,000. The other $24,000 helps alleviate the tax burden, but won't go back into budget.
County finance director Avril Pinder says the money spent on the USS Gravely commissioning is a return on investment and it will make a huge impact on the local economy. Pinder says every time you spend one dollar, it is spent 2.5 times in our community. It's called the multiplier effect. Based on $1.5 million in sales tax, that would mean the community would generate $3.75 million.
The numbers we used are based on people spending two days in the Port City to witness the commissioning. The destroyer will be in town for a total of 12 days. There is also a gas tax, of which a percentage goes to the city and area beaches.
Return on Investment?
Who cares if the tax dollars received even far surpass the $50K - what does that do for you or I? They used our money for this - and they receive the revenue to continue to dole out to their friends and campaign managers. When you throw around terms like return on investment - make sure you clarify who is getting the return. It certainly isn't us - the taxpayer. It's a lose lose every time. The money received goes to politicians to waste and abuse on convention centers and payoffs. Don't be fooled when they try to tell you it's an "investment". They are all liars, crooks, and thieves.
Nice job...
"County finance director Avril Pinder says the money spent on the USS Gravely commissioning is a return on investment and it will make a huge impact on the local economy. Pinder says every time you spend one dollar, it is spent 2.5 times in our community. It's called the multiplier effect."
>Nice job of "spinning" Avril. Figures lie and liars figure. The only "huge" impact it will have is the taxpayers are getting less in return for what we paid out. Now THAT'S a huge impact. However, your buddies at the County Commission and Bill Saffo and his cronies will have lots of photo ops.
Failed economics, try journalism then.
Also, the article missed these basic numbers: How many sailors on a DDG? How many days visiting the port...hmm 12 right? How many hours of liberty (on average) per sailor? How much money will the average squid spend on golf, bowling, at local fast food joints, ice cream parlors, bars, grocery stores...and the Wal-Mart getting squid stuff (like toiletries, etc.) Maybe even one or two will try and score with the cute little WWAY reporters! (Now there'd be an exclusive!!)
I know math may hurt your brains, so I'll give you the first number -around 300. When I spent two days inport, I spent about 250 bucks on average. Some spend a lot more...some spend less....but remember, if a ship is going to be on deployment for a while, lots of sailors are trying to make up for lost time.
If they weren't spending it here...they'd be spending it in Norfolk, or Mayport, or Portsmouth, NH.
Please, don't make me write this article for you...then you'd have to pay me!