Our $27,000,000.00 dollar purchase!
A former (?) city employee nails it on TIF’s and the ridiculous RR purchase downtown;
The city’s railroad property deal has been completed at a cost of $27 million to the American taxpayer, which equates to $69 per square foot. It’s not too hard to determine who received the best part of this deal and why Congress eliminated earmark legislation.
Tax incentive financing may have been needed to jump start downtown, but it is probably no longer needed. The footprint of those entities, who enjoy all of the city services but pay no taxes, continues to expand at the expense of the taxpayer.
In the event that we cannot receive a fair market value for the property, or if we cannot build without tax incentives, the best use for the property might be a park. At least that would provide some type of benefit to the general public.
I have a better idea, we rescind on the whole deal.