By: Diane Benjamin
If you still have no idea what a TIF is, see this post: https://blnnews.com/2016/03/12/tifs-explained/
TIF reports back to 2010 on are line at the Comptroller’s office. Older reports would have to be obtained by FOIA.
I will report on where the money was spent on the OLD Downtown TIF at some point, but start with a few interesting things I found while reviewing the reports:
This is from the 2011 TIF report: TIF 2011 Page 3
Income generated to date is listed in the second column, “Transfers from Municipal Sources” isn’t TIF income. The TIF was started in 1986, I wonder if taxpayer dollars were transferred to the TIF? Information from prior to 2005 isn’t on-line, so it’s impossible to tell. The TIF automatically terminated in 2009, but it had to remain open because of the Bentley lawsuit against the City for how the funds were used.
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Annual meetings have to be held with the TIF Review Board.
This note was in a 2014 TIF report: 2014 TIF
The TIF Renner/Hales are talking about now is “Developer Driven”. Same mistakes over again?
These notes are from a 2013 TIF report: 2013 TIF
The TIF had to be left open and the cost of annual audits continued. Note too that early reports “were not sophisticated”. This statement explains why TIF’s are dangerous. A slush fund is created with very little transparency and accountability.
Maybe the final statement explains why David Bentley’s downtown plan has disappeared and only Giebelhausen’s is left.
More TIF stuff when I feel like doing it! Where the money went is priceless.
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TIFs are just an economic development tool. None of the tax dollars poured into economic development funding are accounted for other than for travel and conventions. The money is just given to B/N Advantage, B/N EDC, Connect Transit, MCRPC to do with as they please.
You know . . . bookkeeping has been done accurately for centuries w/o “sophisticated” computers, etc. Just takes someone w/an eye for detail, ability to perform the mundane and tedious task of accurately documenting journal entries. And, of course, an integrity and ethic that cannot be swayed or bullied by others (usually persons in positions of authority, btw) to make entries that do not conform to actuality/truth.
Now, given that one of the biggest downtown projects to enjoy the TIF largesse, was the Ensenberger redevelopment . . . Up in Smoke is where I think some money went. Check out 1991CF445.
https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fi45.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Ff52%2Fakastills%2FCC_UpInSmoke_MS_5.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fjaypgreene.com%2F2008%2F08%2F06%2Faft-goes-up-in-smoke%2F&docid=k4YShtCnWcwJaM&tbnid=aR9U10ia1HqgKM%3A&w=360&h=259&ved=0ahUKEwiK1ryHoYfMAhVmhYMKHQL-AIIQMwgzKAEwAQ&iact=mrc&uact=8