URBAN RENEWAL: What Mary said

Mary Souza is absolutely right. I believe that I am just as thankful for all the improvements in our city over the last several years as the next guy, but the urban renewal program is just a back alley method of getting money from the residents without their approval. It is basically a form of taxation without representation.

Ordinarily for a capital expense, the city would have to purchase a bond and have the approval of a super majority of the citizens. Often times people will vote against such programs, so to get what they want, cities go the urban renewal route with tax increment financing. An urban renewal district is determined, and then the taxes are fixed such that any taxation on the increase in value goes to the urban renewal district.

No one seems to recognize that this takes money that would have gone for schools and other worthy causes. It affects the taxes for the whole county, not just the urban renewal district.

Urban renewal is just a slush fund for cities to get what they want. This loop hole needs to be closed to protect the property of the citizens of the city.

JIM HOLLINGSWORTH

Hayden