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Found Puppy
Lorlee Bartos
Dylan Cave
Citizen D
W K Gordon, III
Jeff Martin
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06/21/04 City offering tax rebate to
rehab private home? Have you signed up?
Well, you must first determine if you are rich
enough or politically connected enough to meet the test to have our city council
consider your historic home as qualified for everybody else in town to pay for
your home repairs.
| The recipients of our largesse (Council forgets it's taxpayer money) are a very
wealthy, very connected couple who gave almost $3000 to Councilman Gary Griffith's
election campaign. They are big shots! In fairness, they do lots of
good things - active in the community, active in preservation groups.
Still, this a wealthy couple who would spend whatever money necessary to make
their new old home what they want it to be. Their former mansion on Swiss
Avenue was beautifully restored and a real show place. |
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John Willis:
I haven't given any Dallas City Council
persons any funding, but then again I
wouldn't be asking for over $60,000.00 in help.
I would be happy with only a sixth
that much to help further renovate a rental property we have in
Dallas.
Think we could get on board this
gravy train??? |
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We might not have even known about all this had a member of the Dallas Northeast
Chamber of Commerce not noticed these items in the June 18, 2004 newsletter:
You may be thinking, $64,339
over 10 years is only
about $6,434 a year the city is abating. How much were your taxes this
year? How much did you spend renovating your home if you didn't buy a
brand new house?
This is not going to be a museum where we get to go inside and see all the work
done with our money. This is a private home.
This house is not visible from the street. We can't even drive by and see
all the work done with our money -- on this private home.
This is not going to stimulate economic development or new homebuilding or
anything else because you cannot see it from the street. You would be
trespassing if you drove up the long driveway to see all the work done with our
money -- on this private home. |
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James Northrup:
The way this works in England is that owners of historically
significant houses/castles are given inheritance tax abatements if they
agree to keep the house/castle open to the public
a certain amount each year. So,
there is a clear public benefit to such a tax abatement.
Might be appropriate
in Dallas to save architecturally or historically
significant, but privately owned residences.
If the house is not accessible to the public via tours or open
houses, then it's a low priority use of public funds.
Editor's comment: This is Dallas, and it is not Joe
Taxpayer's responsibility to get stuck for the cost of sprucing up someone
else's home, regardless of who designed it or anything else. They might be
able to "charge" invited guests to see what Joe Taxpayer funded, and he
would not be on the invite list. sb |
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How does anyone come up with ideas like this? How can anyone
begin to justify granting a tax abatement for a private dwelling, particularly
when the couple owning the property are wealthy and would spend whatever it
takes to restore this house and make it a showplace (that Joe Taxpayer doesn't
get to see)?
A tax abatement for a $1,669,255 valued house? An annual tax abatement of
$6,440 to a couple who own a $1,669,255 house? Gary Griffith is using our
tax dollars to thank his political benefactors.
Legal Desc
| 1: |
4.773AC
WENDOVER ST |
| 3: |
|
| 4: |
VOL2003040/1800 DD10162000 CO-DA |
| 5: |
2976 000
001 1002976 000 |
| |
Deed
Transfer Date:
2/25/2003 |
Value
|
2004
Proposed Values |
Improvement:
Land:
Market
Value: |
$505,690
+
$1,163,560
=$1,669,250
|
| Tax Agent: RUBIN
CANDACE |
|
Revaluation Year: |
2004 |
|
Previous Revaluation Year: |
2003 |
|
Main Improvement
| Building Class |
10 |
Construction Type |
FRAME |
# Baths (Full/Half) |
3/
1 |
| Year Built |
1939 |
Foundation |
PIER AND BEAM |
# Kitchens |
1 |
| Effective Year Built |
2002 |
Roof Type |
GABLE |
# Bedrooms |
4 |
| Actual Age |
65 years |
Roof Material |
ALUMINIUM |
# Wet Bars |
0 |
| CDU (Condition / Desirability /
Utility) |
MANUALLY ENTER DEPRECIATION |
Fence Type |
NONE |
# Fireplaces |
6 |
| Living Area |
6,347 sqft |
Ext. Wall Material |
BRICK VENEER |
Sprinkler (Y/N) |
Y |
| Total Area |
6,347 sqft |
Basement |
NONE |
Deck (Y/N) |
N |
| % Complete |
90% |
Heating |
CENTRAL FULL |
Spa (Y/N) |
N |
| # Stories |
TWO STORIES |
Air Condition |
CENTRAL FULL |
Pool (Y/N) |
N |
| Depreciation |
0% |
|
|
Sauna (Y/N) |
N |
Additional
Improvements
| # |
Improvement Type |
Construction |
Floor |
Exterior Wall |
Area (sqft) |
Value |
Depreciation |
| 2 |
ATTACHED GARAGE |
BK-BRICK |
CONCRETE |
UNASSIGNED |
648 |
$4,889 |
0% |
| 3 |
ATTACHED CARPORT |
UNASSIGNED |
UNASSIGNED |
BRICK VENEER |
320 |
$6,400 |
0% |
| 4 |
ENCLOSED PATIO |
UNASSIGNED |
UNASSIGNED |
FRAME |
1009 |
$20,180 |
0% |
|
|
There are dozens if not hundreds of homes in East Dallas and Lakewood that have
historic significance -- either because of their design or the architect who
designed them or their age. We cannot afford to grant tax abatements for
everyone who buys an old house and wants to restore it or even just to save it
from the wrecking ball. If that's the case, I want some serious tax money
back from the city for all the costs I've had in making my classic 1957 ranch
style house habitable after years of abuse by previous owners. (My
neighbors tell me 3 families lived in my house at the same time before they lost
it in foreclosure.)
Tax abatements are to stimulate the economy or stimulate development in a
blighted area. Lakewood is one of the most upscale communities in Dallas.
Hip and hopping with home sales.
We are facing an $8 million shortfall in our budget, which means the council is
asking all departments to cut their budgets by 10%. At Councilman
Steve Salazar's Northwest Dallas townhall meeting, Asst. City Manager Ramon
Miguel told us not all departments are treated equally, that the essentials
needs (police, fire, etc.) will not be subject to the 10% shrinkage.
That may be staff's position, but when all those Park Cities people pack our
budget meetings demanding more money for their arts projects and other pet
concerns, the essential needs of Dallas taxpayers have a way of moving down in
priority. We don't get code enforcement beefed up, but the arts programs
get more money to spend on entertainment for the elite and non-Dallas residents.
This is just the last straw!
If you own property, it is your personal obligation to repair it and maintain
it. It is not the responsibility of Joe Taxpayer to share in your costs.
We make exceptions for the elderly or disabled because it is cheaper to repair
their homes and keep them in a familiar situation than it would be to relocate
them to an apartment or some other place that might need meet their needs.
Besides, it is very disconcerting for an elderly person to relocate. It is
very common for an elderly person to experience health and mental problems when
they are moved from their home.
The new owners of the Bromberg house are not elderly and are not disabled and
are not needy, except maybe in comparison to Mark Cuban.
When you think about all the tax money that Cuban and Tommy Hicks are not
paying, property taxes and other taxes which any other business would have to
pay, this $64,339 tax abatement may be proportional to their wealth and
holdings and influence at City Hall.
The grapevine has it that the Woodall Rogers String Thing Bridge is "funded"
over two much more important bridges because Mark Cuban and Tommy Hicks have
committed to make up the difference, so they can get their bridge which will
only benefit their arena. With the reported status of the Hicks companies,
I am not much comforted by holding his paper.
Make no mistake, eventually we will learn that Dallas taxpayers are paying out
the wazoo for Our Mayor's String Thing Bridge. She wants $100 million
tacked on our electric bills to hide the utility lines in the Trinity Corridor,
so they won't mess up the view from her String Thing Bridge.
That $100 million would certainly improve the view in many neighborhoods in West
Dallas and Oak Cliff and Oak Lawn and Northwest Dallas, where we have to pay our
full share of property taxes.
Granting any rebate to restore a private home is just not acceptable. It's
not something that is going to be done for you or any regular taxpayer.
That $64,339 would be better used to improve a Northeast Dallas recreation
center. Better still, spend it at the Dallas Zoo.
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Deterioration persists at Dallas Zoo
Campaign tries to shift funding to county
Sunday, June 20, 2004
By DAVID FLICK / The Dallas Morning News |
... Zoo officials are preparing a campaign to
persuade voters to convert the zoo from a city to a county institution, from
one dependent on the city parks budget to one supported by county taxpayers.
Moreover, the incident buttressed a
public perception that the Dallas Zoo is crumbling and outdated, three years
after the zoo's accreditation was held up until officials could make $1.6
million in emergency repairs.
... the accreditation report by the American
Zoo and Aquarium Association praised some aspects of the facility in Oak
Cliff.
The accreditation team singled out
problems with infrastructure and maintenance, including deteriorating
exhibits for the elephants, giraffes and hornbills.
The report expressed concern about
slow staffing replacement and uneasiness about the depth of community
support.
... Pat and Susan Akin of Midlothian, for example,
pronounced themselves disappointed after their first trip to the Dallas Zoo
one recent weekday afternoon.
... JoAnn Gout of Lake Highlands visited the
zoo for the first time last autumn. She was so impressed she bought a Dallas
Zoological Society membership and has returned with her family several
times. ... "They need to build new and better
exhibits," she said. "It breaks my heart to look at the lions and the
elephants."
Rich Buickerood, the zoo's director,
... "We have so much potential," he said. "It
breaks my heart not to do the things we want to do."
... Although maintenance deferred because of
recent budget cuts is beginning to wear on the facility, the zoo no longer
has its own maintenance staff and must depend on the city or park department
staff, Mr. Buickerood said.
... "If we don't solve the money problem,
education programs go first and the exhibits would start to close, and then
we'll start to have accreditation problems," he said. "We have to do
something."
... City voters approved an $18.5 million bond
issue in 1982 for the first phase of the Wilds of Africa exhibit. Another
$12 million in bonds for the zoo was approved in 1985.
... The exhibit opened in April 1990 after
weeks of fanfare but bombed with the public.
... The Dallas Zoo never generated the support of
the city's wealthiest families the way the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony
Center or the Dallas Arboretum did, said Ron Kirk, who was chairman of the
zoological society in the early 1990s.
... Location was a factor, too. Oak Cliff is home
to many of the city's Hispanic and African-American residents.
"It's just part of the old Oak Cliff
bias," Mr. Kirk said. "People in North Dallas thought of it as over there."
... "It's always easier to get people to donate to
the sexy stuff like exhibits. Maintenance is much less exciting," he said.
"Yet maintenance and operations often cost more than the exhibit itself."
Meanwhile, the zoo's budget, affected
by a drop in city funding, fell from $13 million in 2002 to about $12
million last year. The current budget falls further to $11.6 million.
... The Fort Worth Zoo, for example, gets about 70
percent of its operating budget from money it entices from zoo visitors,
said executive director Michael Fouraker.
Although donations from private
donors have been crucial, he said, "that's the misconception, that there's a
tremendous amount of donations. The truth is we live on revenues that we
generate."
... The Fort Worth Zoo had a $20 million
operating budget in 2003.
... The society's plan to raise funds through a
county property tax would allow ? when other revenue sources are added ? a
$22-million-a-year operating budget, plus an additional $18 million a year
for capital projects.
... Mr. Mayfield and the other commissioners would
have to vote on whether to place the proposal before voters, something that
may happen as early as next spring. He said he has decided to vote no.
"We as a county don't operate parks,
and the zoo is just a park with animals in it," he said. "It's way off base
in my opinion, when we have more essential services."
County Judge Margaret Keliher
... "I'm convinced this is the best way to go,"
she said. "The zoo will never have the type of funds it needs to become a
world-class zoo under the present city budget, and they can't raise enough
money privately." |
Talk about irony. Ken
Mayfield has been Grandpa Jones' boy on the Commissioners Court. A
football stadium is not operated by the County either and would benefit much
fewer taxpayers than an exciting zoo comparable to Ft. Worth.
Zoos are never in high profile neighborhoods, but people get to them. Tax
abatements to gentrify the neighborhoods near our Zoo would be much easier to justify.
Think about it, fix up homes we have to drive past to get to the Zoo,
houses that we can see from the street and be able to see where our money is
spent. Or we can give a very wealthy couple a $64,339 property tax rebate
to fix up their house that is not visible to anyone but their relatives and
invited guests.
Call you council member today and tell him or her that you think Gary Griffith
can show his appreciation for a large campaign donation in some other way than
giving two of his benefactors a huge tax abatement to remodel their private
residence.
This is just not fair.
sb
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