By ALEXIS ZOTOS
6 News Reporter
FARRAGUT (WATE) - Knox County officials hope that new commercial developments will boost county government's bottom line.
At the moment, Costco is nothing more than a construction site. But when it opens this fall off Lovell Road, the town of Farragut and Knox County hope it will mean big money.
"They're the number one retailer in the country when it comes to sales right now, over $130 million dollars per year, per store," said David Smoak, Farragut town administrator.
County Commission Chair Mike Hammond feels the future increase in sales taxes from Costco and other big box stores coming to town is large enough to justify additional money for the county school budget.
"As we looked into the future and our projections for next year and the next year, it was very apparent with Costco coming to town and the Publix coming to town and other developments, looking at the additional sales revenue it would generate enough money to take care of the additional money we were looking for with the schools," Hammond said.
But with similar stores like Walmart and Sam's Club already in place, Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett is cautious about how much new money these stores will bring.
"I don't know if we're going to buy that much more stuff," Mayor Burchett said. "I think people with their budgets, people are going to buy what they're going to buy."
But everyone agrees, the new Costco will be a huge draw for shoppers outside of the county.
"I think what you will see is an increase from people from neighboring communities and the phenomenon of a big box store," Burchett explained.
According to Costco Marketing Director Roger Campbell, their customers will travel from up to 50 miles away to shop at the wholesale retailer.
And with East Tennessee's first Costco set to open in November, officials are counting on the influx of new shoppers.
"Certainly with the number of folks coming in, you'll see a lot of tags from people other than Knox County shopping at Costco," Smoak said.
Costco is expected to create about 150 jobs in the area.
Costco is under construction off Lovell Road.
