SPANISH FORT, Ala. - The Cooperative Improvement District Committee governing the Spanish Fort Town Center voted to raise licensing fees on retail sales, lodging and apartments in the struggling development Monday. Effective Nov. 1, tenants of the development will pay 2.45 percent of the gross proceeds of any sale to the District, an increase of just under 1 percent.

Anne Sumblin, representing MMA Realty Capital, who sued the district to prevent it from defaulting on its bond payments, said the increases were too little, too late.

"Under this scenario, it is inevitable that the district will not be able to make a payment," Sumblin said.

MMA Realty Capital initially sought a 2.6 percent increase in the licensing fee, as well as an 8 percent increase in the lodging levy and a portion of the rent from the apartments on the site, where initial development in 2007 was funded by $30.5 million in bonds.

Citing recent recommendations by University of South Alabama economics professor Semoon Chang, the district Monday voted to impose a 4 percent increase on lodging in the development, as well as a $35 per month for single units in the Spanish Fort Town Center Apartments and $50 per month for units with two or more bedrooms.

Committee members were reserved about raising the retail rates, which effectively make sales tax at the center 10.95 percent – among the highest in Baldwin County.

”The reality is for the last two years, we haven’t had any new tenants,” said committee member Bernard Davis. “If you’re like me, on big ticket items, I go where I can pay less. It’s almost like you’re asking how fast you want the center to fail.”

Spanish Fort Town Center is anchored by Bass Pro Shops, JC Penney and Kohls, but also rents space to Books-A-Million, Maurices, Quiznos, La-Z-Boy and Kangarooz family fun center. Until the vote on Monday, the apartments were exempt from licensing fees, and the two hotels in the development, Courtyard by Marriot and Fairfield Inn & Suites, paid a 4 percent fee. That has been increased to 8 percent. The fees are scheduled to retire in 2016, when the 2007 rates will be reestablished.