Is the County a help or hindrance to the Bass Pro deal?

Bass Pro didn’t actually sign the MOU until February of 2005, despite the fact that the project was announced in November 2004.

You’ll remember that period of time almost perfectly matches the introduction of Joel Giambra’s disastrous bicolor budget fiasco, and Bass Pro inked the deal literally the day after the EC Leg said no to a 9% sales tax. At the time, I sort of off-handedly referred to the Leg as “redundant”. I wondered at the time whether Bass Pro would have signed the deal had the sales tax gone through.

I wonder if 8.75% is that much more palatable to Bass Pro.

Anyhow, I wrote my first screed demanding abolition of county government the same day the leg rejected the 9% sales tax.