... TIF for the Sentinel Tower project.
...
Has the EPA or TDEC or anybody inspected that Sentinel site for ground pollution from all the ink and chemicals used in the printing business all those years? ...

I wondered if that was the reason they got such a large, long TIF. Perhaps the cleanup will be expensive.

after reading the article in the N-S, that John Valliant, attorney for the Devon group, happens to be a politico himself - in the same bed with Moore, I. Harmon, Hutchison, et al.

I tend to agree with Randy's comments on jumpstarts. Reminds me of what I hear about 'turning the corner in Iraq'...we've turned so many corners I have no idea where we are.

Same principle here...I'm getting weary of the rubber stamp for PILOT and TIF that both commission and council throw about like so much confetti. When will the regular joe or jane get a break like this?

I'm trying to figure out what the big deal is about the granting of TIF in this case. No one other than the group to which the RFP was awarded chose to bid on the project and the winning group cited the need for the TIF to make the numbers work...right?

So the alternative is to not award the TIF, forget the development and forego the incremental sales tax revenue and economic impact thereby allowing the developers to focus on other, sprawl exacerbating development?

What am I missing?

Thanks,
Bill

A TIF essentially pays itself off through a tax stream that didn't exist before it was employed

Well the 8.2 million dollar question is where would the money go if it weren't being spent on a .5M condo? A new home in Knox County or a yacht in the Bahamas? There's this assumption that the money is being created out of thin air but if there is a real demand for homes or offices it will be filled without giving up the potential tax.

And I don't buy the statement that all the high rises were built with TIFs. I don't think TIFs even existed during the Butcher days. Were they used for the Bank building next to 1st Baptist?

Doesn't anyone consider that the occupants of these homes and businesses will need County services like everyone else? They'll marry and divorce and sue and be sued and maybe even commit crimes or attract criminals to their high dollar cars. Where's the money to pay for day to day expenses? What if tower residents are overcome with the romantic view from their windows and 6 years later we have children to educate? Do we create a special TIF academy with the developer footing the bill because those taxes have been going to his debt service?
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Less is the new More - Karrie Jacobs