MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) – The City Council appears poised to pass $1.25 million in tax incentives to lure a Topgolf, but not everyone is happy about it.
Mobile residents Sabrina Mass and Sylvia Reed spoke at Tuesday’s meeting, telling council members they have nothing against Topgolf, which offers players games involving driving golf balls at targets. But they said using taxpayer funds to support a private business is not appropriate.
“As a citizen, as a taxpayer, I cannot say that I’m in agreement with spending $1.25 million for a billion-dollar company,” Mass said.
Topgolf plans to build a facility in McGowin Park at the site of an abandoned movie theater. The Mobile County Commission voted Monday to support the project with $1.25 million in incentives. With the city’s share, the total taxpayer contribution would be $2.5 million.
James Barber, chief of staff to Mayor Sandy Stimpson, said the administration views the incentives as a necessity for economic development – not subsidizing Topgolf.
“We’re in a pretty competitive environment,” he said. “It has a reasonable draw, not just entertainment for the city, but very popular sport that has a big economic impact to the area.”
Barber said Topgolf is a “different concept as far as sports and entertainment goes.” He said he does not believe it will compete with existing Mobile businesses.
“The closest one being in Baton Rouge, 180 miles away, it really provides a huge regional draw for the city of Mobile, bringing people from outside the city into the city for entertainment and sports,” he said.
District 4 City Councilman Ben Reynolds called Topgolf a “proven concept” and that the city will see a return on the investment.
“I mostly don’t like the whole idea of incentives and having to incentivize businesses to come here,” he said. “But unfortunately, that’s where we’re at. We’re competing, you know, our taxpayer dollars and our infrastructure and our city and our citizens are competing with other cities across this country.”
—
Download the FOX10 Weather App. Get life-saving severe weather warnings and alerts for your location no matter where you are. Available free in the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.
Copyright 2022 WALA. All rights reserved.