(Ed. note: This was a comment under the TIF video that I have posted for better visibility. "To be esteemed of men" was a phrase of Abraham Lincoln--it was his motivation during his early years, and best describes how he almost bankrupted Illinois in the Grand Canal scheme. He would do anything,..... to make the canal scheme happen. Only in the last year of office, did Lincoln arise to the greatness we now celebrate. This is of course my take on it.)
I do not know if John Morning asked for TIF assistance originally. But he has asked the city more recently, arguing that if D&D Development receives it, he should receive it to be fair.
John has had to recover his investment in street, sewer, water main, etc. through the sale price of his commercial lots. Why should D&D Development not be required to do the same?
Given how prized the location of D&D's new commercial lots will be after construction of the biodiesel plant (and the possible soy bean crushing plant), D&D should be able to ask a high enough price for their new commercial lots to recover their investment in infrastructure and make a tidy profit (especially since they paid very little for the land in the first place). If the city agrees to give them TIF assistance to repay their investment in the infrastructure for the new commercial lots, D&D will be able to recover their investment in the infrastructure twice, once through the sale of the lots and once through the gift of tax dollars from the city. If this comes to pass, their profit on the new commercial lots will be obscene. And this will be true even if the deal involves pay-as-you-go financing.
I hope Mason can talk enough sense into enough of the alderpersons to keep this from being approved. It appears there are some in the city government who are so determined to make this bloom during their term in office that they are willing to sell out the future of the city to make things happen now. When I was in charge of TIF-law enforcement in Minnesota, I saw many examples of cities' giving unnecessary TIF assistance to make development happen now rather than a few years from now, driven purely by the desire of elected officials to produce results while they were in office.
Bill Connors
Former Evansville City Administrator
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The mayor of Commonsenseville is talking about patience this week, too.
ReplyDeletehttp://alarnold.squarespace.com/journal/2007/7/7/gambling-on-our-future.html
Another tough one! It would feel like money better spent if we were getting some kind of commercial entity that would provide good paying jobs for our citizens, or even a starting point for our new graduates while they learn some office skills. It sounds like the plan is for basic no-skill minimum wage kind of places.
ReplyDeleteIt also seems like the "but for" check point has been abandoned in the last few TIF request approvals I've read.
I have never agreed with the notion that we should criticize the business that dares to seek TIF funds.
I'm beginning to feel like the only parcel not covered in a TIF. We've established them everywhere, and they continue to pop up. Some say we've been liberal in handing out our TIF funds, so why should the fella's of D&D think these funds are NOT for the asking?
They are just asking. If it doesn't fit within our guidelines, just say "no".
I agree with Karen that property owners and developers do nothing wrong by asking for TIF assistance. It is up to the elected officials to say "no" until the property owners and developers offer enough in exchange to make it prudent to say "yes."
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