An idea hits me. “Hold on a minute.” I pull my phone out and call up the county’s charter and quickly skim through it. Then I bring up the state’s laws and find what I’m looking for there.
Bingo.
I turn to him. “If I can set up a way for you to keep your propertyandyou wouldn’t have to pay any taxes at all, or pay minimal taxes, would you be willing to keep it?”
He scowls but nods. “Of course I would.”
“What if I can also come up with a way for you to make a living off the property, too, and save the buildings in the process?”
He holds up his hands. “You see these? Arthritis. I can’t farm it anymore.”
“I would be able to get you people to help with the labor, and it would pay for itself and likely pay you a profit, too. You’d have to be in charge of running the business part of it, at least in the beginning.”
He looks understandably doubtful, but he nods. “Absolutely, I’d agree to that.”
I grin. “Might want to delay your order for moving boxes, then.” I head back to the house to get my things. I’m excited to get started on this.
Especially since it means screwing Freddy over in the process.
“Wait!” I pull up short as he follows me. “What are you saying, Desi? I thought you were hired to make this deal happen?”
Determination fills me. “I was apparently hired under false pretenses. Look, don’t say anything to anyone else yet, okay? If you do, my firm might try to stop me. Let me do this for you and for the town.”
“And for Tomas? I mean, if I don’t sell, they can’t build their warehouse here, and his store’s safe. Right?”
An unexpected prickle of tears stings my eyes. “Yeah, for Tomas, too.”
He smiles. “Always thought you boys belonged together. You have any idea how miserable he’s been since you left?” He pokes me in the shoulder but I deserve that.
“I’ve been pretty freaking miserable since I left, too. It took coming back for me to finally admit it.”
His smile fades once more. “I was hoping there would be some jobs for the town out of this deal, at least.”
“There can be. Let me work on this. I have several ideas I think will all work in your favor.” My mind is fixated on the ranch vacation my mom is bugging me to take.
Why couldn’t something like that work here? Maybe not ranching, but other things. A working homestead experience. That would add a lot of jobs to the area, mostly doing stuff the local residents already have plenty of experience with. Charge admittance fees for people, hold tours. Heck, a nonprofit could even get volunteers to do a lot of the work for free and apply for grant money to keep it going, as well as solicit donations from individuals and businesses.
Once I have my things, I say my good-byes and head for my car, my mind racing with a plan about how to pull this off. On the return to Webley, I swing by my hotel in Sarcan and check in, because I’m not stupid enough to jinx myself by feeling overly confident that Tom will ask me to stay with him. Then I return to the county courthouse to do more in-person research.
There are several hurdles I’ll need to jump to save Keith Barnes’ farm. The biggest is getting the county commission to declare it a historic site and then also recording that with the state to get it preserved. Secondly, I need to create a nonprofit trust to put the property into, with Keith as the manager. Then I can create a foundation and file for nonprofit status with the IRS, which I can then also use to file a zoning amendment with the county to waive the property taxes.
That will take care of the tax issue.
But with such a historic place, it should be easy to recruit volunteers to help preserve and care for the property, including turning it into a tourist destination. It can be used for school outings, festivals, or even—
Yes!
If there are people willing to pay a few thousand dollars to work on a ranch, we could easily draw people willing to pay a lot less for a day spent living in the “past.” Historic reenactments. It could be both a working farm as well as an attraction.
He could have people payhimto help him care for the property. Maybe even set up a camping area and people could pay to stay there.
Heck, he could plant pumpkins and have an annual fall festival. Or plant spring crops and have a festival for that. There are lots of ways this could be a money-maker, with multiple avenues for potential revenue.
The town gains jobs without any competition to other businesses. Bonus, it’ll bring more customers to other businesses in town, and provide part-time employment for teenagers who can’t find work locally, or who need summer jobs.
Even more importantly?
It’ll help save Tom’s store and keep him in business. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that’s the only reason Itrulycare about.
