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BettPlex awarded a state tax rebate for baseball and softball facilities

The BettPlex project in Bettendorf is the first of its kind to take advantage of a new state rebate program.
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BETTENDORF, Iowa-- The BettPlex project in Bettendorf is the first of its kind to take advantage of a new state rebate program.

The $2.5 million deal is a part of the Baseball and Softball Complex Sales Tax Rebate program.

“To be awarded the first of its kind credit from the state of Iowa, bringing those dollars from eastern Iowa, it`s a pretty cool deal,” says Economic Development Director, Jeff Reiter.

In the past, Iowa helped a number of projects aimed to create baseball and softball complexes, but those plans like the baseball complex near the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa fell through.

“The project really didn’t come to fruition, but the legislation stayed on the books, so this tax credit was still out there it just was not really pursued,” says Reiter.

Related: Bowling alley, arcade now part of BettPlex project

Although the future Bettendorf sports complex will include many sports, a percentage of the Iowa sales tax will be given to the project developer when customers buy anything baseball or softball related.

“It can be concessions, it can be tickets, it can be merchandise, it can be t-shirts. Anything that has a sales tax associated with it, that the Department of Revenue determines to be part of the baseball softball complex will qualify,” says Reiter.

The BettPlex project as a whole is over $40 million. The softball and baseball facilities alone will cost around $11.5 million, that includes pitching mounds and batting cages for year-round training, as well as six fully turfed baseball/softball fields.

Project developers expect about 750,000 BettPlex visitors in the first year in business, most of them coming from outside of the Quad Cities.

“Those families buying their kids new shoes, batting, gloves…. All that money is staying here that would not have been here before, so this is a huge win for the Quad Cities as a whole,” says Reiter.

 

 

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