Quote:
Originally Posted by rrskylar
Hey someone noticed!
So earlier in the week we hear Bowman and city council crying poor because we shot the wad with the snow clearing budget (city had to spend money to clear basically the one snowfall we had in the winter of 16-17) but miraculously there is $20M to funnel into the TNSE project. Either the city has money or it doesn't, Bowman and council come across looking like complete idiots if they approve this!
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The $20M isn't magically appearing, it's the tax increment that will be generated by the development itself. It there was no development, there wouldn't be the $20M to redirect to skywalks and streetscaping.
I guess the big question is whether the development would have happened without the government's commitment to pay for skywalks and streetscaping. If no, then the TIF is a success. If yes, then the TIF is a waste of money in this case.
The funny thing with TIF is that when it was first rolled out it was held up as an example of a way to get companies to invest in blighted areas... think Selkirk Avenue, not York Avenue. It wasn't really sold as a way to get downtown development happening, but that seems to be the most prominent use of it these days.