Zeck Ford Economic Development Proposal

The City entered into an economic development agreement with Zeck Ford, a locally-owned car dealership in Leavenworth. The business owner plans to double the size of their business and purchase a vacant lot adjacent to the property. Plans call for two funding options: a Sales Tax and a tax-increment finance (TIF) district similar to others that the City has utilized. A TIF district means that property taxes would be used for infrastructure and cannot be used for vertical or building construction. A TIF must also be agreed upon by the County and school district. As for the sales tax, Zeck Ford will cap the sales tax based on its $49 million in yearly sales, which provides about 13% of the City’s sales tax revenues. This would continue under the economic development proposal. Any sales tax collected above the current amount, and only collected at Zeck Ford, would be used as economic development funding for Zeck Ford.