Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Tiff District killed in Washington County Circuit Court reports Arkansas Times blog: Monstrous abuse of taxpayers should never even been proposed, and how much less would it have cost to remodel the building torn down to create one pathetic little parking lot?

Larry Woodall forwarded this welcome information: Here is Woodall's introductory note:
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 








Fayetteville 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.
 

COMMENTS (5)

Showing 1-5 of 5


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?
report2 likes, 0 dislikes   
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.
report2 likes, 1 dislike   
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.
report5 likes, 0 dislikes   
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
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Thursday, April 5, 2012

Mayor Lioneld Jordan reads proclamation of 40 days and 40 nights of Earthday-related events in Fayetteville, Arkansas

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Lioneld Jordan has attended Earth Day at World Peace Wetland Prairie regularly since the 2005 Earth Day dedication of the nature park and voted to accept it as a Fayetteville Nature Park when he was on the City Council representing WARD 4.

David Whitaker, candidate for Arkansas State Representative and former assistant city attorney of Fayetteville  and veteran of 6 years in the U.S. Air Force, has been involved in working for a better Fayetteville for more than a decade. 


Mayor Lioneld Jordan to announce the official opening of 40 days of Earth Day events at 6 p.m. today in front of the Town Center on the south side of the Downtown Square

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Tiny long-horn grasshopper nymph on flower on west side of World Peace Wetland Prairie on April 5, 2012

Pale pink, tiny wildflowers on Pinnacle Foods Inc. wet  prairie west of World Peace Wetland Prairie in Fayetteville on April 5, 2012.
Please acquire an ECO-Passport while there!

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Video on shale fracking in Pennsylvania worth a watch!

Shale-schock media

City Council meeting tonight. Agenda linked below. The underlined or highlighted words are live links to background information and ordinance wording

Fayetteville, Arkansas, City Council Agenda for Tuesday, April 3, 2012

If you decide to go to city hall for the meeting, please stop in Chamber of Commerce building next door to the west and pickup yard signs or information on the effort to raise a small sales tax to support public transportation in Washington County.

Monday, April 2, 2012

President Obama will create new national monuments of significance if he gets support from the public. Do it NOW!


Sierra Club - Explore, enjoy and protect the planet

Dear Aubrey,
Fort OrdTake Action
What do the awe-inspiring wonder of the Grand Canyon, the ancient beauty of California's Big Sequoia Forests, and the smoldering giant Mount St. Helens all have in common?
These national treasures were all permanently protected as national monuments by a sitting President, and that's why we are able to enjoy them without fear that they will be ruined by mining, drilling or clear-cutting.
Fort Ord, on the California Coast, is an excellent place for President Obama to lead the way. The site of a former army post, it's one of the last wild places on the stunning Monterey Peninsula: home to mountain lions, golden eagles and red-tailed hawks, and prized for hiking and cycling.
President Obama has already taken a step in the right direction by making Fort Monroe in Virginia a national monument – but there's more to do. In an era of partisan gridlock, when it's nearly impossible to get anything done in Congress for our wild places, this is one way President Obama can still make his mark as a President who will stand up for public lands. In 1995, during another time of partisan rancor, and in the middle of a tough re-election campaign, Bill Clinton established the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in the Utah desert.
National monuments aren't only good for wildlife – they’re good for people, too. They give us places to camp, hike and picnic. And they're a boon to local economies, providing good jobs and a source of local pride.
With Big Oil and Coal companies pushing to open more lands to be destroyed by drilling and mining, now's the time for President Obama to step up and establish a legacy that cherishes and protects our most special places.
There's no doubt that it's hard to get good things done in Washington these days.But President Obama can lead the way, benefitting millions of Americans for generations to come, by permanently protecting some of our most special places. 
Thanks for all you do for our environment,
signature_brune_150.jpg



Michael Brune
Executive Director 
P.S. We want to make sure President Obama knows that Americans want more national monuments. Forward this alert to your friends and family, or share it on Facebook and Twitter:
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Shelly Buonaiuto's egg art on display with Eco-Passport sign

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