Hey Folks,
Cities and Counties are using Urban Renewal money to fund government development, which takes money from schools, hospitals, fire departments, and college's. The following are links to 4 stories of Urban Renewal gone bad.
Rob T.
Cities and Counties are using Urban Renewal money to fund government development, which takes money from schools, hospitals, fire departments, and college's. The following are links to 4 stories of Urban Renewal gone bad.
Rob T.
When politicians gamble on developers with taxpayer money, who ends up paying?
Ten years ago, Keizer Station was supposed to put this small city on the map, drawing shoppers and their money to the area.
Now, it’s a symbol of what can go wrong when politicians, at the urging of well-connected developers, gamble with taxpayer
dollars.
When developer Chuck Sides pitched the project to the city, Keizer City Council minutes show, he described industrial, retail and sports recreation complexes on the land. Sides talked of a library, a train station and an aquatic center. And he promised between 2,800 and 3,000 new jobs and $500,000 per year in new property taxes within 10 years.
About the Project
Public agencies often use tax-based resources to partner with private developers. Those deals can help transform blighted areas, but they also can become costly projects with dubious results. In a two-day series, the Statesman Journal explores local examples of how public-private partnerships have worked.
Special Report: Public Money, Private Gains
Companies associated with developer have tax bill that tops $500,000
Pringle LLC, a company owned by Chuck Sides, is Marion County’s biggest property-tax deadbeat, with more than a quarter of a million dollars in past-due taxes. In total, companies associated with the Salem developer owe Marion County about $510,000 in delinquent property taxes. That’s money that is supposed to go to county services such as parks, police and public works, as
well as other taxing districts such as cities, fire departments and mass transit districts.
Lake Oswego City Council approves Foothills area urban renewal district
An urban renewal district to fund infrastructure improvements in the Foothills area is a go after the Lake Oswego City Council voted Tuesday night to approve it.
The 4-3 vote to create the renewal district came at the council’s last meeting of the year, just weeks before a new council -- one with a majority of councilors who oppose urban renewal -- will take over.
Oregon businesses get hefty incentives
The New York Times figures $865 million a year in tax waivers, credits and loans
Oregon awards businesses at least $865 million a year in tax breaks and other incentives, according to an interactive search tool created by The New York Times.
That amounts to $226 per Oregonian, or 12 cents of each dollar in the state budget, according to the database. (There is no nationwide accounting of business incentives in the United States, so The New York Times said it compiled a database over the span of 10 months.)
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