Giving away the store to get a store.Economists have long argued against tax increment financing Tax Increment Financing, or TIF, is a tool which has been used for redevelopment and community improvement projects throughout the United States for more than half a century. , and more research is showing the negative side effects Side effects Effects of a proposed project on other parts of the firm. to which Daniel McGraw alludes in "Giving Away the Store to Get a Store" (January). My family recently took our first trek to the Cabela's in Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas, 18th-largest city in the United States[1], and voted one of "America’s Most Livable Communities. , for a little holiday shopping, and I was amazed by the size, the animals, the cafe. My wife, our 18-month-old, and I had a grand time looking at the stuffed animals, the aquariums, and so forth. I commented to my wife on the sheer size of the place and wondered how Cabela's could afford to heat, air, and insure such square footage, especially when their main competition is right down the road. How fortunate for me that the question was still fresh in my mind when I picked up my copy of reason from the to-read stack. When the Cabela's opened earlier this year, I totally missed the fact that it was funded with a tax increment financing district. Of course, given the way the cities operate in the Metroplex, I am not surprised at all. The TIF TIF Tagged Image File (file name extension) TIF Tax Increment Financing TIF Temporary Internet Files TIF Transport Innovation Fund (UK) TIF Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund might explain why the Cabela's is so much bigger than the nearby Bass Pro Shop, although the Bass Pro Shop does have a hotel. The Cabela's store design, especially its size, might actually be a product of the TIF. Craig A. Depken II Associate Professor of Economics University of Texas at Arlington For other system schools, see University of Texas System. History Established in 1895 as Arlington College, it was renamed Carlisle Military Academy (1902), Arlington Training School (1913), and Arlington Military Academy (1916). Arlington, TX Here's hoping Daniel McGraw's fine article on tax increment financing will help put an end to this stealing from taxpayers. In the late '90s, I was part of a group in my hometown that examined the local redevelopment agency and its finances. The agency has used the blight excuse to dump any number of small businesses and instead subsidize biggies like Target. Naturally, it brags about growth in local business ventures that it had nothing to do with. The data our group put together showed that the redevelopment agency's actions will never raise enough revenue to pay the bond debt it has taken on. Despite our warnings, the agency continues to swipe money. The latest venture is to refurbish a movie theater built in a quonset hut Noun 1. Quonset hut - a prefabricated hut of corrugated iron having a semicircular cross section Nissen hut army hut, field hut, hut - temporary military shelter that failed in 1952 (!), on the hypothesis that this will increase business activity nearby, despite the current growth in DVD DVD: see digital versatile disc. DVD in full digital video disc or digital versatile disc Type of optical disc. The DVD represents the second generation of compact-disc (CD) technology. sales. I believe the Italian adage that public money is like holy water: Everyone helps himself to it. George Amberg El Cerrito, CA |
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