Story - The Meade County Messenger


Vol. 114, No. ??	Month DAY, 2007

Meade County seeks to acquire fair share of BRAC pie

By LARRY SEE JR.
Messenger Staff

As the population continues to blossom around Fort Knox, due to the Base Realignment and Closure plans, Meade County officials are working to acquire their fair share.

County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Russ Powell said there is a lobbying program starting to acquaint members of the state General Assembly with the BRAC program and potential impacts.

Powell is also preparing materials for five “road shows” in March. These events are held in places where the human resources command is presently stationed to provide them information about the relocation.

“We’re going there to help market Meade County,” he said. He said a county BRAC action team, composed of business representatives, individuals and government personnel has been meeting to encourage people to relocate here.

“I’m sure you will be hearing from me again,” Powell told the Meade County Fiscal Court at their Jan. 8 meeting. “The more ideas we get the better.”

Powell also distributed copies of a new study, released less than a week ago, focusing on the economic impact of BRAC on the nine-county impact area.

“The figures in the study speak for themselves,” Powell said.

The figures show a dramatic spike in jobs in 2010, since that is when the bulk of the Army’s Human Resource headquarters personnel will relocate. They remain high throughout 2011 and 2012, with the figures decreasing from a high of 3,103 in 2008 to a low of 42 in 2012.

In addition, the report suggests BRAC will increase state tax receipts from $48 million in 2007 to a peak of $87 million in 2010, just before plateauing at $70 million in the following year.

“County and other local tax receipts in the nine-county region will expand in a similar fashion,” the report notes. “They will increase from $3.5 million in 2007 to a peak of $6.4 million in 2010, stabilizing at $4.9 million in 2012, which is a sustained 40 percent increase.”

“We are going to see a dramatic impact,” Powell said. “And it is my concern, as well as the rest of the Meade County BRAC action group, that the benefits flow to the Lincoln Trail area and Meade County. We need to get our fair share of these funds, or more than our fair share.”

Powell also requested financial support for tourism efforts put forth by the Chamber, which amounted to $5,000 last year.

He also offered a check for $7,521.20 for reimbursement from the state tourism marketing program.

That figure represents a small portion of the $10,700 the county spent on tourism promotion for the first six months of last year.

Magistrates unanimously agreed to continue their support.

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