Halt support for EDC, projects
Editor, The time is overdue to reevaluate taxpayer funding for the Boerne Kendall County Economic Development Corporation.
Just this past week saw a large turnout of nearly 300 residents opposing a project being aggressively promoted by the BKCEDC, a lithium-ion battery storage facility to be sited in Comfort.
The community meeting was the first indication for most this project was even “in the works.” This is common practice; officials of the BKCEDC state that disclosing such information would alert other communities who might offer more generous tax incentive packages to entice the project developers to locate in their communities.
Let’s mention a few of the “economic gems” that the BKCEDC has attached to our community as of late: A “cosmetic enhancement clinic,” the lithium-ion battery storage facility, and the BEC Hub Center — the head of our local electric cooperative is also a BKCEDC board member.
And there’s the project apparently heavily promoted (behind closed doors) by the BKCEDC and Boerne, “the gas station with clean bathrooms,” Buc-ees. Buc-ees alone could cost the taxpayers millions of dollars in tax abatements.
The BKCEDC works in collaboration with Kendall County and Boerne to bring such projects to our community. One of the major driving forces behind these efforts is the city’s insatiable appetite for increased revenues to simply grow the institution of the city of Boerne — that is “The Boerne Way.”
The time has come for residents of Boerne and Kendall County to call for a halt to using taxpayer money to attract such projects. If residents were given a “seat at the table,” these would be overwhelmingly rejected, period.
Let the private sector “movers and shakers” fund the BKCEDC. It’s time for the city of Boerne and Kendall County governments to defund the BKCEDC during their next budget processes.
— Robert L. Imler Kendall county resident
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