Panel rejects incentive for Cabela’s megastore

BOISE – The competition between North Idaho and Eastern Washington to snag sporting goods megastore Cabela’s got a little lopsided Monday after an Idaho House committee rejected a bill that would have given the company a significant tax incentive.

Rep. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d’Alene, and Rep. Frank Henderson, R-Post Falls, sponsored the bill to start a tax incentive program in Idaho to allow companies to be reimbursed for infrastructure costs.

The House Revenue and Taxation Committee voted 9-8 against even introducing it.

Two bills that would give Cabela’s tax incentives in Washington are still making their way through the Washington Legislature.

“At this point, as long as the bills are alive in Washington, we’ve got a leg up on Idaho,” said Doug Smith, director of planning and community development for Liberty Lake.

Cabela’s has been looking to open a store in the Liberty Lake or Post Falls areas.

That interest prompted Nonini and Henderson to draft the Idaho bill in hopes of persuading the company to choose the latter.

The company already has announced plans to open a store in Boise – without a tax incentive.

Cabela’s wants its own highway interchange in Post Falls, which Nonini said the Idaho Department of Transportation estimates would cost between $10 million and $15 million.

Under Nonini and Henderson’s rejected proposal, Cabela’s would have to pay for the road project, but then would have been reimbursed for 75 percent of it through returned sales tax collections.

Nonini said the bill would have applied to other companies but was drafted with Cabela’s in mind.

Cabela’s spokesman Joe Arterburn said Monday he couldn’t comment on what the company will do without a tax incentive in Idaho.

But Nonini said when presenting the bill that the company will not come to North Idaho without one.

This concerned Assistant Majority Leader Mike Moyle, of Star. “So Cabela’s is kind of threatening us, saying, ‘Pass this or we don’t come?’ ” Moyle said.

Nonini replied that the company originally wanted much more.

“When we got into early negotiations with Cabela’s, they asked for the moon,” he said. “Rep. Henderson and I told them no, we would go this far.”

Nonini touted the jobs and property tax revenue the store could bring to Idaho.

Liberty Lake realizes how beneficial Cabela’s would be for the community, Smith said.

“But it’s going to take some work with the state to package the deal that Cabela’s is looking for,” he said.

Nonini said he may return this session with another tax incentive proposal.