5 or 6 years ago we had conversations about tax increment financing (TIF). It was new and little understood. Coody and his developer gang pushed it through in Fayetteville with disasterous results in downtown development and a big hit to the finances of Fay Public Schools.
Read the comments at the end of this Ark Times article to get the gist of what TIF does to a community. It has rarely been used in Ark to create worthwhile development in blighted neighborhoods as the intended purpose of the law stated. As we saw in Fayetteville it was used to funnel school money into pockets of the downtown elites.
click here for article
TAXESFayetteville schools win fight against TIF tax grab
Posted by Max Brantley on Tue, Apr 10, 2012 at 10:10 AM
The Fayetteville School District has won a lawsuit challenging the city of Fayetteville's effort to capture some of the money from a voter-approved tax increase to build a new high school and give it to the misbegotten downtown tax increment finance (TIF) district. The judge ruled that because the millage was pledged to debt, taxes collected within the TIF district under that new millage could not be diverted to the district's use.
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Should be able to get the TIF law thrown out.
Dustin McDaniel has already delivered massive amounts of tax money from schools to his sugar daddy developer campaign donator friend so I bet old Dustin McDaniel would just let it die.
The TIF law is the epitome of poor tax policy.
One tax entity gets to give away another taxing entity's revenue.
When has spending other people's money resulted in frugal and justifyable spending?
Dustin McDaniel has already delivered massive amounts of tax money from schools to his sugar daddy developer campaign donator friend so I bet old Dustin McDaniel would just let it die.
The TIF law is the epitome of poor tax policy.
One tax entity gets to give away another taxing entity's revenue.
When has spending other people's money resulted in frugal and justifyable spending?
Posted by Citizen1 on April 10, 2012 at 12:05 PM
"The TIF law is the epitome of poor tax policy."
Amen to that, Citizen1.
Amen to that, Citizen1.
Posted by Sound Policy on April 10, 2012 at 12:21 PM
TIF is a textbook example of what has happened to our government in general.
The wealthy control the legislature and use it to lower their costs and increase their revenues.
This redistribution of wealth comes at the expense of the tools those in poverty need to improve themselves, like schools.
Thus creating a cycle of concentration of wealth and the division of society into an upper class that runs on inherited wealth and a lower class that has no chance of escaping poverty.
The ironic part is that they call it economic development -- when in fact it actually cripples economic development.
The wealthy control the legislature and use it to lower their costs and increase their revenues.
This redistribution of wealth comes at the expense of the tools those in poverty need to improve themselves, like schools.
Thus creating a cycle of concentration of wealth and the division of society into an upper class that runs on inherited wealth and a lower class that has no chance of escaping poverty.
The ironic part is that they call it economic development -- when in fact it actually cripples economic development.
Posted by ChildeRolandReturneth on April 10, 2012 at 12:33 PM
Can this same logic be applied to the NLR TIF case?
Posted by couldn't be better on April 10, 2012 at 3:51 PM
Maybe Fayetteville will use that TIF money to clean up Block St. I was up there last weekend. It's an obstacle course. Oh wait......they just DID spend a bundle on that street.
Posted by Jack on April 10, 2012 at 5:06 PM