Elliot D. Pollack & Company (“EDPCO”), a well renowned economic consulting firm in Arizona (www.edpco.com), completed a review of the economic impact study prepared by Western Economic Analysis Center (“WEAC”) dated September 2010 on behalf of foreign-owned Curis. EDPCO highlighted several questionable claims in the WEAC report that may significantly overstate economic impacts to the local and state economies. Below are a few highlights from the EDPCO report. For the full report please contact us at info@protectourwaterourfuture:
“Starting with the impact to Arizona’s economy, the claim that 170 direct jobs created by the Copper Project would produce an additional 920 indirect jobs statewide equates to a multiplier of 6.41. A multiplier of this magnitude would be unprecedented in the State of Arizona. The Arizona multiplier for a copper mining project such as this using IMPLAN, a nationally-recognized developer of economic impact modeling systems, would be 2.59, meaning that 170 direct jobs would create an additional 270 indirect and induced jobs throughout the State. To assert that this project would create 248% more jobs than current industry averages is extremely aggressive.”
“The WEAC reported impacts to local government revenues of the Town of Florence are misleading. The report states an annual benefit of $7.6 million. Nearly 45% ($3.4 million) would go to Florence Unified School District, not the Town of Florence. Another 30% ($2.3 million) is attributed to Pinal County government. Again, this is not a Town of Florence benefit. Other local jurisdictions are expected to receive another $228,000 of the total, also not a Town of Florence benefit. Finally, the Town of Florence is projected to receive $1.7 million annually. This figure includes an estimation of approximately $1.0 million annually in severance tax proceeds that cannot be received by the Town of Florence, thus lowering the true impact to the Town to approximately $654,000 annually.”
The tables below provide a summary of the estimated economic impact based on adjustments made by EDPCO to more realistically assess the effect mining has on the local and regional economies. In total, EDPCO estimates the WEAC report overestimates the economic impact to the State of Arizona by nearly$80.4MM.
Based on the economic data, Protect Our Water, Our Future sees no reason why we should put our community at risk when the town and community are better off sustainably building through the project as intended as a residential and commercial master planned community. The charts below further illustrate the benefits of continuing with our community as planned.
The net fiscal impact to the Town of Florence is estimated to be approximately $654,000 per year when removing the approximately $1.05MM in severance tax proceeds that were forecasted to be received in the WEAC report.
EDPCO also prepared a summary of the economic impact to the the local, county, and state economies based on a buildout of Curis’ 1,200 acre property as its intended use as a residential and commercial master planned community. In summary, EDPCO concludes that over the long term the residential and commercial development of the subject 1,200 acres will far exceed any economic benefit that could be generated by the Florence Copper Project.
The following tables show the economic and fiscal impact of the construction of single family housing on the 1,200 acre property at build-out. The table labeled “Total Fiscal Impact of Construction” is based on an overall gross density of 3.5 units per acre. The primary revenue to the Town of Florence is generated from its construction sales tax.
The Annual Fiscal Impact of Operations table outlines the revenue that will be generated to the Town each year after build-out and completion of the master plan based on resident spending, payment of property taxes and increased state shared revenues totaling nearly $4.8 million annually.
The final table on the Economic Impact of Construction shows that nearly 3,200 person years of employment will be created by the development of the site and construction of homes within the master planned project, or the equivalent of approximately 213 employees per year on average over a 15-year development cycle.
It is completely irresponsible for Curtis to drill into our water table . How can they say this will not damage our water . They have no experience is this type of mining process. It will not ruin our water supply . Once this damage is done there is no turning back . This should be put to a vote . The residents of this area
should be the ones to make the decision. It is our land , our homes ,our water supply.
Having worked for two major corporations, and having a background in public relations and advertising, I am well aware of how major corporations skew information to make people think they are working in their interests…jobs, parks, research parks, hats, mugs, tours, etc…and do not honestly portray the negative effects to the public….not hiring local people because they don’t have the skills, possible water contamination and, water consumption when water is at a premium, etc. I, for one, would rather look at independent studies of the Florence Copper Project, as the one done by the Elliot D. Pollack Company, to make my decisions. I would encourage the Town Council and all citizens to do the same. It becomes obvious to me that there is a lot more to the story than Curis has provided. It is also obvious that the risks involved are not worth the outcome – even the positive ones projected by the Pollack company.