The creationists behind a tax-payer subsidized "replica" of Noah's Ark in Kentucky are lashing out at the media for reporting on the park's tax evasion.
"MEDIA AND BLOGGERS OUT OF CONTROL RE: ARK," wrote prominent creationist Ken Ham, in all capital letters.
Ham was responding to news that the Ark Encounter theme park lost $18 million in tax breaks after a deed transfer in which the for-profit LLC Answers in Genesis "sold" the park to a non-profit in an attempt to avoid paying local public safety taxes to Williamstown, Kentucky.
Ham quoted CCO Mark Looy, who said, "We are saddened that the City Council did not extend the courtesy of discussing this ordinance with us before passing it and taking it public, and was not willing to negotiate further."
However, the Ark has burned enough bridges in town that the City Council may have been left with little choice.
"They can’t be trusted to do the ethical thing, so at this point, the City Council is squarely within their rights to institute rules without contacting Ken Ham first," Hemant Mehta explained. "They tried to work together. Ken Ham tried taking advantage of them — as he’s done many times before with all the tax breaks he’s received. What more is there to negotiate?"
Not only has Ark Encounter evaded local taxes, but Ken Ham has blamed Williamstown for dreadful attendance at the theme park. Ham has also blamed atheists for tax-payers getting fleeced by the project.