When will Springfield be good enough? Rapid Roberts COO makes case against Buc-ee's tax break

Springfield City Council and mayor are again on the verge of directing public funds to private developers. If the Buc-ee’s proposal passes, city leaders will be signaling to taxpayers the city we have built is not good enough, we must sacrifice more, and they will have to "give the farm away." This time, the farm is worth $4.1 million and is being given to Buc-ee’s convenience stores out of Lake Jackson, Texas.

Full disclosure, my family owns and operates Rapid Robert’s, a local chain of convenience stores with headquarters in Springfield. We have been supplying fuel throughout the Ozarks since 1928, when my great-grandfather first opened Wilson’s Conoco on the Missouri/Arkansas border in Blue Eye.

My ties to the fuel business may prompt many to immediately discount my opinion; however, I would like to point out that we compete with large national operators every day (Kum & Go, Casey’s, Murphy’s, Hy-Vee, Sam’s, Costco, Love’s, Pilot-Flying J), and competition is nothing new for Rapid Robert’s. What is new is the city’s practice of picking winners and losers with taxpayer money.

City leaders have publicly praised Buc-ee’s as a great investment for taxpayers, citing it will bring Springfield over 200 jobs, generate $30 million in sales of merchandise and it could spur retail development at the Mulroy and I-44 exit. I offer a different perspective.

1. Buc-ee’s will add 200 jobs but they will not bring 200 more employees to live and spend in Springfield. Instead, the talent pool will be further divided for all retailers, restaurants and service providers. There is currently a labor shortage, not an entry-level job shortage. Rapid Robert’s competes for talent every day — it’s part of being a retail business and is expected. However, the competitive process is tainted when the city decides to financially prop up one retail business over another competing for the same talent.

2. Most of the tax revenue Buc-ee’s generates comes from fuel sales and will go directly to the state and federal government. The city collects zero tax from fuel sales. According to Buc-ee’s projections, annual fuel sales will be around $70 million. This equates to approximately $10 million in collected tax revenue going directly to the state and federal government and zero to the city. The city’s proposed Buc-ee’s investment is an awesome deal for the state and federal government. Why have we not asked the entities benefiting the most to participate in the development of this new convenience store?

3. The city is betting on Buc-ee’s to prompt retail development for the I-44 and Mulroy exit, which would generate additional sales tax revenue for the city. However, the odds of this exit becoming a retail corridor are slim. The market has already spoken. Everything east of 65 and north of Kearney is manufacturing and industrial. The most likely scenario is the city’s investment will prompt more manufacturing and industrial, which generates little to no sales tax revenue. The city is gambling with taxpayer money and assuming they know better than the market’s determination of highest and best use.

When do we stop making concessions and start relying on the merits of our Queen City?