South Carolina "will likely offer" the NFL Panthers $115M in tax breaks to move the team's HQ and practice facilities across the North Carolina border to Rock Hill, according to a front-page piece by Wilks & Schechter of the Columbia STATE. The tax discounts proposal "passed the state Senate 27-15 Thursday after a days-long debate featuring questions about the deal's cost and projected benefits for South Carolina." The Panthers have been "waiting on the bill to pass before moving forward with plans to purchase up to 200 acres of land in Rock Hill." The team wants to "start construction later this year and move into the complex" in Q1 of '22. South Carolina "won't write the Panthers a check" for $115M, and will instead "allow the team to keep its employees' state income taxes, so long as it spends that money building the proposed complex" (Columbia STATE, 5/10).
JUST THE BEGINNING: In Charlotte, Erik Spanberg noted the Panthers "spent months lobbying South Carolina political leaders to provide the incentives," which include an interchange at Interstate 77 near the 200-acre site, which is estimated to cost $40M. In addition to the new HQ and practice facilities, the Panthers "anticipate a phased series of developments including a hotel, meeting space, shops, restaurants, and offices for other businesses" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 5/9). The CHARLOTTE OBSERVER's Kevin Siers in an editorial cartoon weighs in on the incentives and benefits involved in the deal.
CHARLOTTE OBSERVER
