June 30, 2010
California Commentar¢
Government Picking Winners
And Losers At
Taxpayers" Expense
by Jan Coupal
It generates few headlines, so
many taxpayers are unaware
that local governments continue
to pump millions of dollars of
tax increments -- property tax
revenue usually withheld from
schools and other essential
services -- to fund pet projects
that may not be in the public
interest. This is all done under
the guise of "Community
Redevelopment."
One of the most common
misuses of redevelopment
funds is to bribe businesses,
like auto malls or big box stores,
to relocate in a particular
community. The result is often
a bidding war between cities,
each trying to outdo the others
to provide the most generous
subsidies and tax breaks to land
a favored business. Reforms
enacted in 1994 which permit tax
sharing designed to address this
"problem have only been partially
successful.
It is hard to find a taxpayer who
thinks that government should be
in the business of using taxpayer
dollars to pick winners and losers
in the private sector economy,
and this is why local officials try
to operate their redevelopment
schemes with as little notice as
possible. However, when the
deals go sour, it is hard to keep
these expensive failures under
wraps.
The city of Downey in Southern
California represents just the most
recent case of redevelopment
gone haywire. Downey was
attempting to lure Tesla, a green
car manufacturer famous for an
all-electric roadster, in the hopes
of adding 1200 new jobs. The
city wanted to add two parcels
to a redevelopment project area,
and then intended to use the tax
increment revenue - the amount
of the new higher property tax
- generated by the. addition to
subsidize Tesla's rent and site
improvements. Downey had
pledged $14.8 million of taxpayer
dollars, some of which it had
no doubt already spent on city
staff time to prepare the project.
Further, in a nod to good fiscal
accountability practices, Downey
allegedly committed some of
its reserve fund to support the
redevelopment expansion. At a
time when local governments are
dealing with declining sales and
static property tax revenue, this
was far from a wise move. The
project also ignored the main
point of a redevelopment project
area, which is to eliminate blight,
not subsidize private industry.
The city was so anxious to get
its redevelopment plan passed
quickly in an effort to get millions
worth of federal stimulus money,
that it was willing to cut corners to
do it. Downey counted on a bill by
Assemblyman Charles Calderon
that would have eliminated
the mandatory hearing that
cities must have in order to
add parcels to redevelopment
districts, and also would pro.hibit
citizens from filing a referendum
on a redevelopment project. By
supporting legislation that would
have stripped people of the right
to vote, especially when $14.8
million is at stake, Downey's
actions were an insult to its own
citizens.
Now that Downey has
sacrificed city staff time, money
and its dignity, it appears that the
whole plan has collapsed. Tesla
has found an even better deal.
They have reached agreement
with Toyota to form a joint
collaboration 400 miles away in
the Bay Area. The good news
for taxpayers is that now that it's
no longer needed to force the
Downey deal down taxpayers'
throats, the Calderon legislation
appears dead. The bad news
for Downey taxpayers is that
at a time when nearly every
community is short on funds,
their city has already invested
resources gambling on a project
which is now defunct.
Jan Coupal is president of
the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers
Association - California's largest
grass-roots taxpayer organization
dedicated to the protection of
Proposition 13 and the advancement
of taxpayers' rights.
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The history of the worm is full of men who rose to leadership, by sheer force
of self-confidence, bravery and tenacity.
- Mahatma Gandhi
Week y SUDOKU
by Linda Thistle
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DIFFICULTY THIS WEEK: *
* Moderate ** Challenging
*** HOO BOY!
© 2010 King Features Synd., Inc.
Tips For Saving
Lives And
Property From
Wildfires
(NAPSA)-Learning about the
reality of wildfire danger can help
save your home and those you
love.
According to experts, wildfires
across the country are burning
hotter and faster than ever
before. After a severe 1985 fire
season that saw 1,400 homes
burned nationally, the National
Fire Protection Association,
through an agreement with the
U.S.D.A. Forest Service, U.S.
Department of the Interior and
the National Association of State
Foresters, created the Firewise
Program-to offer simple ways by
which community members can
work together to prevent their
properties from becoming fuel
for a wildfire.
"By learning about how wildfires
spread and taking simple steps
to reduce damage, we can adapt
to the inevitability of wildfire
danger," said Michele Steinberg,
Firewise Program Manager in
Quincy, Mass. "Wildfires do not
have to burn everything in their
paths. You can prepare your
home simply and effectively."
Residents can reduce the
risk of their home's ignition by
simply modifying their homes
and immediate surroundings.
For example, to make a home's
landscape Firewise, create
space around the home to
reduce wildfire threat. Reduce
vegetation surrounding a home
(30-100 feet, depending on the
area's risk of wildfire) and prune
large trees so that the lowest
branches are 6 to 10 feet high to
prevent a wildfire from spreading
up to the treetops. When planting,
choose low-growing, carefully
placed shrubs and trees so the
area can also be more easily
maintained. Even something as
simple as cleaning gutters and
eaves of leaves and debris can
prevent an ember from igniting a
home.
Also, when possible, choose
Firewise construction materials
for homes, decks, porches and
fences. The most protective
roofing materials will be rated
"Class-A," including asphalt
shingles and metal, cement and
concrete products. Wall materials
most resistant to heat and flames
include brick, cement, plaster,
stucco and concrete masonry.
Double-paned or tempered glass
windows also make a home more
resistant to heat and flames.
Our increasingly damaging
wildfire seasons may be caused
by rising temperatures that in turn
create drier wildfire fuels such as
scrub, grass and brush. Also,
millions of people are moving
into formerly rural and wild areas
vulnerable to wildfire, which
presents added challenges for
firefighters.
For more information on taking
real action to reduce wildfire
damage in your community, visit
www.firewise.org
The Julian News 13
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Strange But True
by Samantha Weaver
• It was Swiss journalist and commentator Esther Dyson who made
the following sage observation: "The Internet is like alcohol in some
sense. It accentuates what you would do anyway. If you want to be
a loner, you can be more alone. If you want to connect, it makes it
easier to connect."
• The world's'largest colony of ants reaches all the way from
northern Italy to Spain's Atlantic coast.
• The first U.S. patent was issued in 1790 for a soap-making formula
developed by Samuel Hopkins.
• In May of this year, Canadian chef Ted Reader attempted to break
the Guinness record for the world's largest hamburger. The patty
alone weighed more than 300 pounds, and the bun was 105 pounds.
Once the burger was decked out with lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, red
onions, pickles and barbecue sauce, the grand total was a whopping
590 pounds. Guinness has not yet certified the giant hamburger,
but it seems a shoe-in to beat the current record holder, which is a
measly 158.8 pounds.
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© 2010 King Features Synd., Inc.
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• Hasbro's Easy-Bake oven
was so popular when in was
released in 1963 that it sold a
half million of the toys within the
first year.
• If getting out on the road
these days is making you
nervous, you have good reason:
According to the 2010 GMAC
Insurance National Drivers Test
survey, approximately 38 million
American drivers would fail a
written drivers test -- that's 20
percent of licensed drivers. The
nation's best drivers can be
found in Kansas, while the worst
drivers -- perhaps unsurprisingly
-- are in New York.
Thought for the Day: "As far as
the laws of mathematics refer to
reality, they are not certain; and
as far as they are certain, they do
not refer to reality."
-- Albert Einstein
(c) 2010 King Features Synd., Inc. •
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The stegosaurus was a large,
plant-eating dinosaur that
lived about 150 million years
ago in what is now the western
United States. It had two rows
of bony plates shaped like huge
arrowheads sticking out of its
back and tail.
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