CORPORATE SWINDLES & CIVIC SUICIDE

Submitted by Roldo on Sat, 07/12/2008 - 13:07.

Cleveland, by no means, is the only city that bestows gift after gift upon corporate welfare chiselers.

Crain’s Cleveland Business this week linked to a Columbus Dispatch article that reveals the depravity of these business frauds and their grip on that city’s government.

In Columbus the city council created a 735-acre downtown district to “shift new tax money – likely millions of dollars – to Downtown projects…” the article noted. It’s not the first and won’t be the last.

And where would this tax money come from? A tax incremental financing (TIF) deal that diverts property tax money from its ordinary sources to help downtown projects.

The losers: the Columbus Metropolitan Library, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, social service agencies and unnamed “others that rely on property taxes.” It did state that the Columbus schools wouldn’t lose revenue.

Cleveland already gives away tax revenue with TIFs but to set up an entire district would be giving our officials bad ideas. Here comes Wolstein!

The diverted tax revenue seems to come from agencies that do things for people. Oh well, once again, let them eat cake.

The diverted revenue will go to provide infrastructure for shops and restaurants among other needs. Isn’t that just what Americans need – more restaurants and more shops and less help for children.

Of course, a coarse and dying society requires new ideas for civic suicide.

Hooray for Columbus!

There's profit in poverty

  So says Cleveland City Councilperson Nina Turner in the next to last (?) Free Times published.   The old saw: Q: How do developers make money? A:With other peoples' money.
It's the way it works here in NEO.  And the PD goes along with the scam at every level and has the nerve to call it GREEN.
  Who paid off the demo liens on 2000 Denison?  Does any investigative journalist in this city care?

Field of Schemes

Remarkable insight from someone outside Cleveland and on the sports pages at that.

Norman Chad has a scathing column on

  ending with

 

I think it's terrific that million-dollar athletes have wireless access as they're toweling down after a tough 9-2 loss. It might be even more terrific if 14-year-olds in D.C. schools were afforded the same luxury.  

someone should show him Roldo's material on Cleveland