By: Diane Benjamin
If the massive tax and spending increases Renner and Council have handed taxpayers aren’t evidence of a need for HUGE changes in Bloomington – Monday night you give you another reason.
A 3rd TIF District!
Did Bloomington elect a Chris Koos for mayor? Koos has FIVE TIF districts. He has buried Normal in debt and failed economic development because government doesn’t create economic development – they pick winners and losers. See the facts for Normal’s TIF’s here: https://blnnews.com/2016/03/17/the-tif-slush-funds-normal/
Tax Increment Finance (TIF) districts provide a slush fund for government to create their vision, control development, and reward friends with tax breaks at the expense of every other taxpayer. With this 3rd TIF, Renner seizes more control of the local economy. He will drive development to what he wants to see, not what works. The private sector will be shut out of development because Tari has plans, plans he hasn’t publicly revealed. Is the plan for large public housing complexes? Taxpayers will only be told when the contracts are signed.
Choices made by government are always bad – thinks Coliseum, and unused Fire Station, an unused water tower. Renner campaigned 4 years ago on fixing the roads – he borrowed $10 million, raised taxes, and has plans to borrow more to do what citizens expect their tax money to be used for.
No wonder Scott Black and Tari Renner refused to sign the Loyalty Oath: https://blnnews.com/2016/11/25/communists/
Communists believe in complete control. At least Renner and Black aren’t hypocrites!
Free market capitalism means a product or service is produced because people want it. If they invest wisely they profit. They can also fail, but it’s their money at risk, not yours. Renner plans to risk your money because he can – you elected him. Tari wants to create development taxpayers don’t want and then force them to pay for.
Why did the first TIF (east side) include much more than Colonial Plaza? What vision does Tari have for this new TIF? Citizens aren’t told.
EVERYTHING Tari and company have done in the name of economic development has been subsidized while taxes and fees are increased to pay for it.
The new TIF includes the property on N Main Renner purchased just to keep anybody else from buying it. Obviously he has been secretly plotting this takeover for close to a year. Below is a map of the proposed district. http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=11653
Tonight is a meeting you need to watch. Listen for the clueless on the Council who think progress is debt and shutting out the private sector. Yes, these types do exist. Right now they are elected because far too many people didn’t vote 2 years ago.
The elected aren’t smarter than you. They don’t have any magic formula for success. They merely want you to believe they do.
Success comes when government gets out of the way. Unless drastic changes are made in Bloomington, taxes will continue to suck the life out of a once great community.
This TIF attacks freedom and property rights. When voters stay home for elections, government is more than happy to reach for their Utopia with your money.
Has Bloomington learned their lesson?
.
.
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This council is clueless, really clueless. Just followers of a failed misguided idealistic demoncratic strategy which was just soundly defeated in the national election. Hopefully the trend will continue and wipe these fools out in due time, including the rinos. Have you any info on the others running in the various wards this election?
IWU Professor/Mayor collaborates with IWU to set up a TIF district. How does a tax exempt property benefit a TIF? What benefit to IWU? Almost half of the included property is tax exempt. Explanation, Mr. Mayor and Alderman Schmidt.
Now Diane, you need to go easy on Tari this week. After all, down in Havana, he just lost his hero, his idol, his mentor, and probably his father figure. Though I have aways seen him more as a Che Guevara kinda guy, someone who would truly revel in machine gunning his opponents up against the walls of a soccer stadium–or maybe the Corn Crib. The evil of both–Mayor and Dictator–are almost beyond imagination. But the Left adores them.