Submitted by Roldo on April 15, 2008 - 7:46pm.
The Plain Dealer is reporting tonight on its Cleveland.com site http://blog.cleveland.com/business/2008/04/enlarge_image_pdfmost_of_a.html tonight that a deal is in the making to further subsidize the Wolstein project in the Flats, already in line for tons of public money.
The Port Authority is trying to work a deal so that Wolstein will avoid sales tax (can you do that?) by running the financing through a public body (the unelected Port Authority), which will give the developer "below-market interest rates and an exemption from sales taxes on construction materials," according to the PD report. It doesn't say how much revenue from this tax will be diverted from the public treasure.
To assess what various levels of government are giving to Wolstein's development see:
http://www.lakewoodbuzz.com/RoldoBartimole/RB%2005-03-06_Flats_Deal_Disgrace_Lakewood%20Ohio%20Roldo%20Bartimole.html
The list of subsidies is at the end of the article.
As long as we're giving it away, they'll be a'taken it.
Happy tax day, folks. You too, Mayor Jackson.
whoa!
"Advantages to port financing include below-market interest rates and an exemption from sales tax on construction materials, port officials said."
No shit Sherlock! I bet a lot of those people who have lost their homes in the area would have preferred port financing, too. How about the Port step in and bail out NEO homeowners to the tune of $150 million? How far would the $900 million we're spending on a showroom and party center go to help stem the tide of forclosures?
"As long as we're giving it away, they'll be a'taken it."
Yep and as long as they keep waving these big bright shiny things in front of desperate people, they'll be taken in, too.
Dr. Dover... paging Dr. Ben Dover...
CLE - LEAVELAND FAILING FAST
The more publicly subsidized the Wolstein project is, the clearer it is that Cleveland has almost hit bottom.
Personally, I want to see that Wolstein puts in nothing of his own, and the County and the City of Leaveland pay for everything.
That scenario will mean we are getting near the end of the Dante tunnel.
That would be healthy news for NEO.
If Wolstein pays for anything in the flats, Cleveland isn’t ready to be healthy.
Suck the taxpayer dry! The sooner the better!
Leaveland Rules!
(details on US census site)
A Modest Proposal
Looks like we are living in dire times. Jonathon Swift would understand.
We all die sooner or later
And Wolstein and McGill Properties will find out just like the rest of us. Too bad some of us have to die by poison.
I called WKYC after they ran the EPA report on Cityview. WKYC never refered to the owners by name. Hmmm, wonder why? Reporting at its best in NEO.
why don't they see the real goldmine
"Come and listen to my story bout a man named Jeb, a poor mountaneer, barely kep his family fed, but then one day he was shootin at some food and up through the ground come a bubblin' crude" methane that is - gaseous, colorless gold
These shopmart prospecters are looking at the land top down, not bottom up. They might benefit from standing on their heads in a yoga class. It's the "natural resources", stupid! Waste equals revenue... Come on, come on kicking and screaming into the 21st century... come on...
WKYC and Wolstein
Does WKYC get paid to shill for Wolstein? Just wondering...