The state is giving approval to $18 million in tax incentives for a Noah’s Ark theme park in Grant County.
The Courier-Journal reports the Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority approved the incentives Monday for the controversial park run by the Christian ministry Answers in Genesis.
The state program gives developers of tourism projects the ability to recoup up to 25 percent of the project’s cost.
That money comes from a return of the sales tax visitors pay on admission tickets, food, souvenirs, and other items.
Answers in Genesis filed a federal lawsuit after an official under then-Governor Steve Beshear’s administration rejected the group’s application for the tax incentives. That decision was based in part on the group’s policy of hiring only Christians.
Answers in Genesis runs the Creation Museum in Boone County, and embraces the strict biblical view that the earth is 6,000 years old.
