Shopping At One Local Retail Center Will Soon Be More Expensive

Beginning November 1st, the Spanish Fort Town Center will try to generate more revenue...at the expense of shoppers.

A three-member panel hired to find a way to bail out the struggling shopping complex voted to raise the sales tax on all purchases at the Spanish Fort Town Center to 10.95%...one of the highest in Alabama.

It will also cost you more to spend the night on the property. A lodging tax at the Town Center's two hotels will increase from four to eight percent.

People living in the Spanish Fort Town Center's apartment complex will also be asked to bail out the shopping center. Renters will pay a monthly 35-to-50 dollar fee.

30 million dollars in bonds were supposed to finance the project when it was under construction four years ago. But millions are still owed.

Many shoppers we spoke to say they'll spend their money somewhere else.