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<p class=MsoNormal>On November 6, 2008, the Moscow Urban Renewal Agency
Commissioners toured the urban renewal districts in Coeur d’Alene that
are the subject of the first of two articles in the Coeur d’Alene Press.
The first article is below. Please note the subscriber comments following
the article.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Apparently the Moscow URA Commissioners hoped to gather inspiration
from Coeur d’Alene on how to spend more of your tax dollars. In
particular, how to spend your tax dollars to enrich private developers without
a vote of the taxpayers. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Here are some other items the Moscow URA spent your tax
dollars on this year:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoListParagraph style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span
style='font-family:Symbol'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>·<span
style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>
</span></span></span><![endif]>Spending up to $5,000 of your tax dollars to
file a “Friend of the Court” brief for the <u>Rexburg</u> Urban
Renewal Agency<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoListParagraph style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span
style='font-family:Symbol'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>·<span
style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>
</span></span></span><![endif]>Hiring a new economic development director at a
cost of $80,000+ to be shared with the City of Moscow (tax dollars funding
both)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoListParagraph style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span
style='font-family:Symbol'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>·<span
style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>
</span></span></span><![endif]>In addition to the economic development director
salary, paying the City of Moscow $30,000+ annually for administrative services.
This is $5,000 more than last year because City Staff said they need more money
to manage the economic development director. Is this compound “Bureaucracy
Gone Wild?”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>The Moscow Urban Renewal Agency Commissioners have the
ability to finalize and close out the Alturas Urban Renewal District by 2010
and return $300,000 annually as a direct reduction on all property tax bills in
Latah County. They have chosen not to do this and instead vote to
continue spending your tax dollars on bureaucracy and to divert funds to the
Legacy Crossing Urban Renewal District, where nothing is happening.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Perhaps the Moscow URA Commissioners should take a field
trip around Moscow to assess our economic situation. In particular, note
that the national recession is extending to Moscow. There are
layoffs and budget cuts, businesses are not up-staffing and expanding like the
URA; in fact, there have been several business closures and will be more.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>A $300,000 refund from the Moscow URA would be a welcome
gift to property taxpayers in Moscow and all of Latah County.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>B. J. Swanson<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:#4F81BD'>From the
Coeur d’Alene Press, Sunday, December 7, 2008:<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>LCDC:
Philosophies diverge on finance</span></b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
color:black'>By TOM HASSLINGER<br>
Staff writer</span></i><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>Would
city develop without agency? How much does it really cost taxpayers? Finding
answers depends on who you ask<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>Editor's
note: This story is the first in a two-part series on urban renewal and the
Lake City Development Corporation. Tomorrow: Would development blossom without
LCDC?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>COEUR
d'ALENE -- From the outdoor walkway at the Parkside building on Front Avenue
across from McEuen Field, one can see Lake Coeur d'Alene to the southwest,
flanked by Tubbs Hill, the softball fields covering McEuen Field, the new
public library and the brick and stone buildings lining Lake City's downtown.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>But the
best views from the high-rise can be seen only by those who reside in the
condos, which sit inside Lake City Development Corp.'s urban renewal district in
downtown Coeur d'Alene.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>So
passersby strolling along the park would need keys to access the best
viewpoints, even if a portion of their property taxes went directly to the
urban renewal agency, which pledged $820,000 of taxpayer financing to the
developer for infrastructure and landscaping on the project.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>Proponents
say urban renewal is a recruitment tool used by a resourceful agency whose sole
purpose is to redevelop, beautify and improve a city with enhanced aesthetics,
better economy and more diversified jobs.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>"Urban
renewal is a philosophy," said City Finance Director Troy Tymesen.
"If you like development, then you like urban renewal. If you don't like
growth, then you probably won't like it."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>For
others, the mayor-appointed and City Council-approved agency can seem like a
quasi-government, which can spend tax dollars without voter approval, and
agrees to fund private developers for amenities the public will never own --
like high-rise views from Parkside.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>Ada
County Commissioner-elect Sharon Ulman called urban renewal spending
"sweetheart deals that the taxpayers are subsidizing."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>"How
is that fair?" she said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>It's a
complicated equation, and it might depend on which philosophy a person
believes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>Urban
renewal financial agreements can sound like back-scratch deals. Officials
contend they are mathematical certainties designed to bring development and
economic perks to a city, which pays back developers from the money their
projects generate without any financial risk to the taxpayer.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>"The
city has so few tools to offer up when we're recruiting businesses,"
Tymesen said. "It's really hard to bring in a business based on what we
give away because we don't give away anything."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>The
Riverstone development transformed a 74-acre former mill site into a work-and-play,
mixed-use development along the Spokane River, and the Mill River development
helped land the US Bank Call Center -- and nearly 500 jobs with it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>Along
with those projects are ones the agency supported for aesthetic perks, such as
$12,000 for maroon banners on Parkside the public will never own.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>For
fiscal year 2008-09, which runs Oct. 1 to Sept. 30, LCDC expects to receive
$2.82 million in tax increment financing inside its Lake District and $1.4
million inside its River District.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>Those
totals are up from the 2007-08 fiscal year's estimated $3 million total,
according to David McDowell, Kootenai County finance director.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>During a
slumping economy, the philosophical question about urban renewal becomes even
more pointed than usual. Are urban renewal agencies at all responsible for
increased property taxes for people outside the districts? If the agency is
receiving taxes the cities and counties aren't, are taxpayers picking up the
rest of the slack?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>•••<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>On Oct.
19, Mary Souza wrote in her Sunday column for the Coeur d'Alene Press that
because of urban renewal, Kootenai County residents are seeing a 4.3 percent
hike in their property tax bill, while Coeur d'Alene residents are getting a 10
percent spike.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>Around
the same time, commercial property tax bills around the county were growing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>Art
Williams, owner of the Flamingo Hotel on Sherman Avenue, was floored by the 55
percent increase on this year's bill.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>"When
I saw it, I went nuts," said Williams, whose hotel sits inside LCDC's Lake
District.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>Surrounded
by LCDC-aided projects like McEuen Terrace and Sherman Lofts, Williams felt the
agency was raising his taxes even more than Souza had written.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>Itemized
on the assessment was the increment split LCDC was to receive: 60 percent of
his total. A few blocks away soars the condo Williams doesn't have keys to
access.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>"They're
using my money they can spend freely," he said. "They're giving it to
schools, the Kroc Center. They can do whatever they want with that money and
they haven't done anything with parking in the downtown, which it desperately
needs."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>The
agency could spend Williams' money, but according to state, city and county
officials, it didn't raise his property taxes: The state of Idaho did.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>"There
are several issues that impact our taxpayers, but urban renewal is not one of
the significant players. Legislative changes routinely dwarf other
sources," said Kootenai County Assessor Mike McDowell.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>Last
year, a change in state legislation prohibited taxing agencies like cities from
claiming new construction growth inside urban renewal districts as their own
growth, which they had done in previous years.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>The
decrease in new growth dollars for the city led to a decrease in what Coeur
d'Alene could calculate as its total valuation -- or overall worth -- which
affected the levy rate taxing entities like the city, county, college and fire
districts set to multiply their taxing share.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>It's
those levies, multiplied by the property tax assessment, which is the property tax
bill. (Urban renewal agencies cannot levy taxes.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>When
valuations are down, levy rates generally go up, and on a property with equal
or increased valuation, higher levy rates would mean higher taxes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>But a
more direct effect on property taxes was a higher homeowner's exemption
legislators enacted at the same time: $100,938 off each owner-occupied house's
taxable valuation -- and off the city's taxable worth.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>That
action spared homeowners greater increases in this year's bill, but shifted the
financial burden on commercial businesses like hotel owners.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>The
shift in the tax exemption accounted for Coeur d'Alene's depreciation in the
last year, Tymesen said. Meanwhile, the Lake District's total valuation rose by
$80 million, while the River District increased by $65 million.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>But
while the districts appreciated and the city did not, one is not the result of
the other, officials contend.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>"Urban
renewal's impact on the taxpayer is nominal," said Alan Dornfest of the
Idaho State Taxing Commission.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>"There
are too many moving parts, too many variables to pin rising property taxes on
urban renewal," Tymesen said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'>---------------------------------------<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:140%;background:#BBBBBB'><b><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Mary
Souza</span></b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
wrote on </span><i><span style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Dec 7, 2008 9:57 AM:</span></i><span style='font-size:
9.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
line-height:140%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>" I don't agree with
Troy Tymeson's comment that "If you like development, then you like urban
renewal. If you don't like growth, then you probably won't like it."<br>
<br>
Many pro-business people are unhappy about the way urban renewal is used here
in CdA. Giving tax money to private developers to enhance their profit levels
is not capitalism, it verges on corporate welfare and is unfairly and unevenly
distributed for seemingly arbitrary reasons.<br>
<br>
This creates not only the unnatural "bubble", as Dan described in his
comment below, it is also unfair competition for other businesses that don't
receive urban renewal money. Their taxes are still raised to pay for subsidies
to competitors.<br>
<br>
I'm all for good development, done in a smartly managed way, with developers
taking both the risks and the rewards, on their own...the old-fashioned,
American way. "<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
line-height:140%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:140%;background:#BBBBBB'><a
name=18b0a7b06d28c43e2017a1b761e6f9a0></a><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
line-height:140%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Niles</span></b><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
wrote on </span><i><span style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Dec 7, 2008 9:37 AM:</span></i><span style='font-size:
9.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
line-height:140%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>" spenman... The LCDC
has taken far more than $4.2 million of our property tax dollars. That is what
they are getting just this year. Last year it was $3.0 million. That is a 140%
income growth in one year .... and that is not unlike previous years. <br>
<br>
The portion of property tax money the LCDC gets is the increment from what
properties were paying when the LCDC started some 11 years ago and what the
property taxes are on those properties now. But all new properties, like those
in Riverstone, pay all of their property taxes to the LCDC because they did not
exist when the LCDC started. So as all those new million dollar homes and
businesses are sold the amount of money taken by the LCDC grows ,,and it does
grow dramatically. (BTW developer John Stone doesn't pay taxes because the
Mayor gave him a $3.2 million tax break for his donating Riverstone Park to the
city. I always thought 'donate' meant 'give' not take.)<br>
<br>
The Mayor and the LCDC plan to keep the LCDC open for the longest time frame
allowed by law. They could close parts of it early but they will not even
discuss doing so. The LCDC is slated to continue until 2021. If the growth
continues as is has soon the LCDC will take in more property tax money than the
city does. Already the LCDC has taken 10's of millions. If left alone they will
end up having used 100's of millions of our property tax money how they
decided. <br>
<br>
NO public vote on the education corridor. Just some inside deals a tarnished
appraisal and poof $10 million public dollars goes into Chesrowns pocket.
"<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
line-height:140%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:140%;background:#BBBBBB'><a
name=37d71a79d93a68504fc7bc320dca0f52></a><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
line-height:140%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>richard</span></b><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
wrote on </span><i><span style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Dec 7, 2008 9:32 AM:</span></i><span style='font-size:
9.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
line-height:140%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>" The Press asks,
" Would development blossom without LCDC?" Nice propaganda spin on
the Press' fave word, development. Development 'blossoms'? How about -
development distorts, blights, ruins? Depends on whose ox is being gored, I
imagine. "<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
line-height:140%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:140%;background:#BBBBBB'><a
name=11526ef67a1c7e35dad3598eb184c644></a><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
line-height:140%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>spenman</span></b><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
wrote on </span><i><span style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Dec 7, 2008 8:55 AM:</span></i><span style='font-size:
9.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
line-height:140%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>" Niles, Dan G, Mary
S need to run for office....again. I supported Dan the last go around but with
all the government subsidies going around I think the time is right. I am
willing to go door to door if I have to in support of these great candidates
(potential). Art, please be willing to put signage on your property( I did )
when we go to battle in two years if your not taxed out of business.$4.2
million of our tax dollars for a few hundred low paying jobs....I just don't
get it. "<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
line-height:140%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:140%;background:#BBBBBB'><a
name=f123cbf255738c5653cf883e9fef5f68></a><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
line-height:140%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Dan Gookin</span></b><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
wrote on </span><i><span style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Dec 7, 2008 8:50 AM:</span></i><span style='font-size:
9.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
line-height:140%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>" The LCDC is
shifting its raison d'tre from "blight" to "economic
development." Technically, it's a shift from Chapter 20 to Chapter 29 in
Title 50 of state code. But the "economic development" seems limited
to construction, not job opportunities. While they claim the 500 jobs at the US
Bank call center, credit goes 90% to Jobs Plus.<br>
<br>
I also take issue with Tymeson's comment about growth and urban renewal, which
demonstrates false logic; being against the kind of "urban renewal"
the LCDC practices doesn't make anyone anti-growth. Urban renewal irrationally
accelerates growth by providing public money to help developers underwrite
cost. That artificially inflates the rate of growth, which increases property
values disproportionally. In other words, it helps create a growth
"bubble" that eventually collapses. To argue that the LCDC can help
this situation means than one fails to see the big picture, i.e., the good of
the community.<br>
<br>
The bottom line for me is jobs. Tymeson and other LCDC supporters claim that
urban renewal is "the only" economic development tool available to
cities. Fine. Then use it to attract career-level jobs. Sadly, the only way I
think that's going to happen is when we replace four members of City government
next year. "<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
line-height:140%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:140%;background:#BBBBBB'><a
name=518a7d6eb1f5a590bd2f1940a9ca6f3f></a><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
line-height:140%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>justme</span></b><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
wrote on </span><i><span style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Dec 7, 2008 7:57 AM:</span></i><span style='font-size:
9.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
line-height:140%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>" I have to agree
with Niles! "<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
line-height:140%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:140%;background:#BBBBBB'><a
name=38d11d157eb140e53ffbf2812d624d39></a><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
line-height:140%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Niles</span></b><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
wrote on </span><i><span style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Dec 7, 2008 7:08 AM:</span></i><span style='font-size:
9.0pt;line-height:140%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:140%'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
line-height:140%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>" Okay Dan here are
the numbers you asked for. The total property taxes anticipated going to the
city for 2008/2009 are just over $14 million. This comes from the 2008/2009
budget posted on their website. The incremental property tax income total going
to the LCDC for the same fiscal year is $4.22 million. That means the total
property tax income is around $18.22 million of which $4.22 million goes to the
LCDC. The LCDC is skimming 23% of the city property tax revenues for its
private usage.<br>
<br>
23% of Coeur d"Alenes property taxes directly to the LCDC to use without
any public vote and little or no public input. Taxation without representation.
Adding insult to injury the city raises all of our property taxes to help make
up for this lost revenue. We pay extra so that the LCDC can give out money to
their developer buddies. Chesrown is about to get handed a $10 million
sweetheart deal for property valued at the peak of the market by a boldly
biased appraisal. That is our money getting stuffed into Chesrowns pockets.<br>
<br>
Where is the blight Mayor? Close down the LCDC. Return those tax revenues back
to where they serve the citizens who pay them and not your developer friends.
Where's the blight Mayor? Where? "<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
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