Consultants say campus will add jobs to town
By: Brian Austin, University Editor
Issue date: 7/3/08 Section: University
Consultants hired by the University have estimated that research campus Carolina North would result in the creation of more than 8,600 jobs, but town officials remain wary of the project's potential effects on local communities.
Consultants Howard Kohn of The Chesapeake Group and Carson Bise of TischlerBise presented a fiscal impact analysis of the first 15 years of development on Carolina North to the Chapel Hill Town Council, the Orange County Board of Commissioners and the Carrboro Board of Aldermen on June 26.
The analyses showed direct and indirect consequences of the project, further broken down between two scenarios that would both develop 2.5 million square feet of the site.
Direct impacts come immediately from the site itself, such as taxes and increased services. Indirect benefits create "economic spin-off" in local communities, including more jobs and higher incomes that result from the project, but are not directly related to it.
More than 5,000 new jobs are expected to be indirect benefits.
Projecting deficits
Since most property at Carolina North will be exempt from tax rolls because it will be owned by the University, there will be little direct benefit to the town. In fact, the campus is not expected to raise enough revenues for the services it will require for any portion of the 20-year time horizon considered.
And town officials noticed that when accounting for job movement, consultants had failed to "backfill" new employees on the main UNC campus, resulting in underreported impacts, a sign that the numerous variables involved in the study could be interpreted several ways.
But TischlerBise models predict that indirect revenues will more than offset these costs to the surrounding communities, a goal touted by University officials on the project.
"It's one of the most incredibly fruitful economic development projects I've ever seen," said Jesse White, director of the office of economic and business development at the University and a member of Carolina North's oversight committee.
"It's very clean, it's non polluting, it's high tech," he continued. "It's the project almost every community in the country would kill for. I see it as a win-win for the University, the city, the county, the region and the state."
Defining 'benefits'
A significant point of misunderstanding sprang from the term "benefits" to describe effects that could accrue from development.
The quirk of semantics irked some town officials.
"I think there are some underlying differences in what we consider to be benefits," said Carrboro Alderman Jacquelyn Gist. "You talk about adding a bunch of new housing units and that's not necessarily a benefit to us."
Impacts are projected to extend well beyond local towns, extending in a "sphere of influence" that stretches to Wake Forest and north as far as Roxboro.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
Consultants Howard Kohn of The Chesapeake Group and Carson Bise of TischlerBise presented a fiscal impact analysis of the first 15 years of development on Carolina North to the Chapel Hill Town Council, the Orange County Board of Commissioners and the Carrboro Board of Aldermen on June 26.
The analyses showed direct and indirect consequences of the project, further broken down between two scenarios that would both develop 2.5 million square feet of the site.
Direct impacts come immediately from the site itself, such as taxes and increased services. Indirect benefits create "economic spin-off" in local communities, including more jobs and higher incomes that result from the project, but are not directly related to it.
More than 5,000 new jobs are expected to be indirect benefits.
Projecting deficits
Since most property at Carolina North will be exempt from tax rolls because it will be owned by the University, there will be little direct benefit to the town. In fact, the campus is not expected to raise enough revenues for the services it will require for any portion of the 20-year time horizon considered.
And town officials noticed that when accounting for job movement, consultants had failed to "backfill" new employees on the main UNC campus, resulting in underreported impacts, a sign that the numerous variables involved in the study could be interpreted several ways.
But TischlerBise models predict that indirect revenues will more than offset these costs to the surrounding communities, a goal touted by University officials on the project.
"It's one of the most incredibly fruitful economic development projects I've ever seen," said Jesse White, director of the office of economic and business development at the University and a member of Carolina North's oversight committee.
"It's very clean, it's non polluting, it's high tech," he continued. "It's the project almost every community in the country would kill for. I see it as a win-win for the University, the city, the county, the region and the state."
Defining 'benefits'
A significant point of misunderstanding sprang from the term "benefits" to describe effects that could accrue from development.
The quirk of semantics irked some town officials.
"I think there are some underlying differences in what we consider to be benefits," said Carrboro Alderman Jacquelyn Gist. "You talk about adding a bunch of new housing units and that's not necessarily a benefit to us."
Impacts are projected to extend well beyond local towns, extending in a "sphere of influence" that stretches to Wake Forest and north as far as Roxboro.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
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