TIF For Tat
Snake Oil Part III

The developers tried the carrot and the stick but to their credit, the Lenoir City mayor and council stuck to their guns. At Monday's council meeting the only item on the agenda was, the mayor's recommendation to establish a committee in regards to reviewing/evaluating the TIF request by Town Creek developers. Apparently mayor and council weren't entirely comfortable with the recommendation by the first committee. This was not what the developers were looking for. They were expecting the council to accept and adopt the plan recommended by the Lenoir City Industrial Board. The developers brought in consultants from Florida, Virginia and Illinois to bolster their position. Then they pulled out every tool in the developers tool box.

Time is of the essence, we must move quickly. This is always a standard approach when developers want officials to act with out thinking. Next was an almost guarantee that a "BIG" business was just about to sign on. Promises to assist local government if they will help the developer. Finally, if you don't get in now, all may be lost.

The developers dangled the hook with all the different baits but council still didn't bite. The voted to go ahead and form the committee to take a closer look at the TIF plan.

One nagging question that just won't seem to go away is, what if the county doesn't participate. Is the deal dead? The answer is still mysterious.

Lenoir City officials should consider establishing the TIF for themselves rather than the developer and let the revenues come back to the city. The city could then build the main road through the development and upgrade the sewer. Let the developer be responsible for his own secondary roads and utilities. After all, Overholt stated the only thing that could derail the success of his project would be a an atomic bomb.

Bottom line, the developers want the tax payers to pay their bills and that's just not right.

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