I Told You So
| Just last week we learned that local developer, Ed
Loy, had asked for and received permission from city officials to
rezone a
substantial portion of the Creekwood development to allow for a
private gated residential development. This is of course not what he had
told the council his plans were when he asked the city to foot the bill
to construct a six million dollar road through his development. It was
to be a commercial development that would generate untold millions in
sales tax revenues for the city.
I predicted that with the tough economic times, it wouldn't be long before other developers would be looking for tax payer bailouts. Well here comes the next one. Item number 5 on Lenoir City Council's agenda for Monday is:
I'm sure we all remember the Dr. Bob Overholt's TIF debacle back in 2007 when Overholt tried every way in the world to get the city and county supplement his proposed development to the tune of 20 mil. Fortunately both governments chose not to back the plan. There are no details on the agenda as to what Matlock will be asking for but under the TIF you can know it's tax payer money. Given the current economic challenges for everyone, surely city council wont start down that road again. We will see. This may turn into a race by developers to see who can get in the tax payer's pockets first. There will be more. |
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1/19/09