Written by On Tuesday we reported on an insurgent effort to change the leadership and direction of the Tucson Metropolitan Chamber. It looks like the entrenched interests are digging in their heals and not planning on going anywhere. Today the Arizona Daily Star has a story about the effort to reform the chamber and improve the business environment in the Old Pueblo.
Long time Chamber President Jack Camper defends his tenure by noting that “Rio Nuevo funding for downtown redevelopment was secured.” Oh boy, Camper helped secure continued funding for a financial boondoggle that rivals the Alt-fuels program in it’s waste of taxpayer’s funds. Thanks so much Jack. I can hear all the businesses rushing to open because of renewed funding for Rio Nuevo.
It remains to be seen how this challenge to the status quo in Tucson plays out but one thing is for sure, the reputation of Camper and the Tucson Chamber is about to take a beating.
Alt-fuels used funds directly from the State’s general fund. Rio Nuevo is funded from taxes collected locally from a special district. Persons credited with passing alt-fuels also benefited from the legislation in their private lives.
Ryan, to compare the two is to display how truly ignorant you are on policy.
Rio Nuevo was funded with the state portion of the Arizona sales tax. That is money that could have been used to fund schools. Instead it went to a slush fund for Tucson Cloth.
Persons who worked to secure Rio Nuevo funding also benefited from the legislation in their private lives.
Read the news much? State sales tax makes up 46% of the general fund. It’s often cited as the reason we’re in the tank locally and at the state level in this recession. Oh, and don’t forget how the city of Tucson cleverly gerrymandered the district to make a big sales tax haul along Broadway out to Wilmot and suck that tax revenue into downtown where it went into a giant Hoover-y black hole of failure–and, of course, enrichment of some.
And don’t forget the clear distinction between Rio Nuevo and other TIF districts in this state is that the other TIF districts did what they said they would do with the money, completed the job, and, in the intent of a TIF distict, increased the sales tax revenue from the district. The folks mismanaging the Rio Nuevo district for the last ten years seemed to forget the actual intent of a TIF district was to increase the tax revenue of the district.
Even Gabby benefitted from RN because of the property that the city leased from her company. Remember the grocery store that was going to be a part of Rio Nuevo but wasn’t in the district boundary–oops. So while the city continues to lease the Giffords property at, from what I’ve read, $160K/year ad infinitum, for an empty lot. The city did get their market in Rio Nuevo however. It’s called Maynards Market. Oh, and the city is paying THEIR lease too! Taa Daaaaa!
It’s called Tucsonomics. It doesn’t trickle down or trickle up. It trickles like water torture of Tucson taxpayers. No wonder the business community is getting restless. Steve K has his hands full smacking down the incompetence of his fellow council members who have picked up this week where they left off mismanaging the city.
Jon Justice was reading an article today that ranked Tucson in the bottom 10 places to do business in the country. A fine testimonial.
Ryan, Rio Nuevo is funded with Transaction privilege tax proceeds, not sales tax proceeds.
Dead Head, the real distinctions between Rio Nuevo and other TIFs are the funding source (see above) and the legislated life span of the project. Funds did not accrue until 2003 even though the bill passed in 1999.
BTW, the intent of the district, Head, was not to increase to sales tax, it was to secure votes in S. AZ for a baseball stadium in Phoenix.
Oh, so if the intent of the TIF is not to increase sales tax revenue downtown then may I say it has succeeded wildly.
If you watch the video where Gould and Leff tore Shelko a new one I don’t think that the senators who voted for the TIF agree that its only purpose was to secure votes for a basketball stadium in Phoenis.
Kenny, I quote from the AZ Dept of Revenue web site
“The Arizona transaction privilege tax is commonly referred to as a sales tax”
The state portion is 5.6%. A TIFF district allows some or all of that 5.6% to go toward the district instead of to the state general fund. It is too bad all of those millions were wasted on Rio Nuevo because the schools could really use the money about now.
Ryan, since you don’t have the integrity to post an entire sentence let me do it for you:
“The Arizona transaction privilege tax is commonly referred to as a sales tax; however, the tax is on the privilege of doing business in Arizona and is not a true sales tax. Although the transaction privilege tax is usually passed on to the consumer, it is actually a tax on the vendor.”
Funny how you can find something that agrees with your incorrectness and then chop off the rest of the sentence.
Seriously, you are a joke.