Emerson, GA – A stroke of Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue’s veto pen has scrapped a developer’s plans to build a $1 billion indoor ski resort in the Bartow County, northwest of Atlanta.

Perdue’s action removes a temporary 25% tax break that would have been afforded to the developer, Steve Winters, by allowing refunds of sales taxes collected. The indoor ski resort was proposed for land adjacent to Red Top Mountain State Park in Emerson.

“I cannot support legislation that funds up to 25 percent of the cost of a tourism project by allowing the developers to receive refunds on state sales taxes that are collected,” Perdue said in declining the measure.

The bill was sponsored by state Rep. Cicily Hill (R-Kingsland) and, in the Senate, by Chip Pearson (R-Dawsonville). Only projects valued at $100 million or more were eligible for the tax refunds.

County Commissioner Clarence Brown said that he had been hopeful that the project would have put a dent in the county’s 12 percent unemployment rate, and is optimistic that the bill will be resubmitted to the state’s next governor.

Georgia’s last outdoor ski area, Sky Valley, closed its 250-vertical-foot ski hill in the state’s far northeastern corner in 2004.