Post by Logan on Feb 1, 2016 19:17:37 GMT -6
Former gun store owner receives $150K grant from TDC despite owing state, county taxes
Just two months after police arrested Jonathan McGowan last summer on charges of failing to pay sales taxes, the former gun store owner asked for $350,000 in development tax money from Jacksonville to organize what he calls a “shooting and outdoors convention.”
While the Jacksonville Tourist Development Council denied McGowan’s initial request, it ultimately approved a $150,000 grant in November for Gun Con Inc. — his corporation behind the Shooting and Outdoor Convention — to help produce the event.
McGowan says the convention, slated for this July, will be an all-encompassing outdoor sports event intended to establish Jacksonville as a eco-tourism destination in the Southeast.
The grant came from a highly sought-after pool of approximately $6 million last year, collected through a 6 percent bed tax levied on guests at Duval County hotels, motels and rentals.
Read more: jacksonville.com/news/metro/2016-02-01/story/former-gun-store-owner-receives-150k-grant-tdc-despite-owing-state
Just two months after police arrested Jonathan McGowan last summer on charges of failing to pay sales taxes, the former gun store owner asked for $350,000 in development tax money from Jacksonville to organize what he calls a “shooting and outdoors convention.”
While the Jacksonville Tourist Development Council denied McGowan’s initial request, it ultimately approved a $150,000 grant in November for Gun Con Inc. — his corporation behind the Shooting and Outdoor Convention — to help produce the event.
McGowan says the convention, slated for this July, will be an all-encompassing outdoor sports event intended to establish Jacksonville as a eco-tourism destination in the Southeast.
The grant came from a highly sought-after pool of approximately $6 million last year, collected through a 6 percent bed tax levied on guests at Duval County hotels, motels and rentals.
Read more: jacksonville.com/news/metro/2016-02-01/story/former-gun-store-owner-receives-150k-grant-tdc-despite-owing-state