
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, May 9, 1994                   TAG: 9405090028
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: HAYMARKET                                LENGTH: Medium

DISNEY FOES FIRE BACK

The proposed Walt Disney Co. theme park would cost Prince William County taxpayers at least $1.86 million a year beyond the tax revenue it would generate, according to park opponents.

The Piedmont Environment Council commissioned a study of an earlier analysis, paid for by Disney, of the project's costs and benefits by Stanley R. Hoffman Associates of Los Angeles.

The council's findings, released last week, contrast sharply with Disney's estimate that the park would produce an $8.6 million annual surplus for the county by the time the park would be fully built in 2010.

The council's study calls into question a key selling point of Disney's America - that it would pump money into county coffers and reduce upward pressure on residential property taxes.

"It appears that Disney will only add to the county's continuing budget problems and already high taxes," said Chris Miller, a council spokesman. "Many of the costs imposed by Disney have been understated or ignored, while the project's taxable value has been overstated."

Disney officials said they stand by their study, which said the park would generate $14.6 million in taxes for the county in 1998, the first year of its operation.

That figure would easily outpace the $3.8 million it would cost the county to provide the development with public services, the Disney study said. Such costs include construction of police, fire and rescue facilities and administrative expenses.

In 2010, the county would collect $8.6 million in excess of the cost of services, which by then would include schools and a library, according to the Disney study.

The council's analysis, prepared by economic consultants Thomas Muller and Michael Siegal, said the Disney study is seriously flawed and omits key information.

The council said Disney did not take into account the possibility that the county could lose $1.6 million in aid to public schools because of the Disney project. The loss would result under the state school funding formula, which reduces state aid to schools as local property values increase.

Also, the council contends Disney underestimated debt service on loans to build the schools. Disney put those costs at $220,000 a year.

by CNB