06/17/02 TIF comments

I don't get it, I just don't get it.  The more people I engage in conversation about the Victory/Palladium/COC/Hicks/Arena TIF (whatever this nebulous thing is termed), the more I realize that most people simply do not understand what a Tax Increment Financing District actually is.

Either Ed Oakley is ignorant of the concept of a TIF, or he is a liar.  The statement, "The developers also restored a polluted site to the tax base," is incorrect and misleading. 

Land owners pay tax.  That undeveloped, "polluted site" was being taxed.  All that tax money went into the general budget and will continue to go into the general budget.  Now that it is/will be developed, the tax value goes up.  Most times, when this happens, new tax revenue from the newly increased tax value from the new development, also goes into the general budget.  

BUT WAIT! With a TIF, the City only taxes the owner at the same rate that it was taxed before the development, meaning, all new tax revenue goes into the TIF, not into the general budget.  Why is this so difficult to understand?  

Ed Oakley made a very misleading statement.  Again, and I stress this, either he just does not understand the concept of a TIF, or he is a liar.  If he actually believes what he said, then he has NO BUSINESS voting on this issue.

I know a lot of smart people.  I tend to want to hang around people I consider smarter than me, but a lot of smart people out there don't know what TIF's and PID's are.  It's not rocket science and we all have our own lives to live.  The average person really has no reason to know anything about TIF's and development projects.  Most citizens are not developers.  

It's dangerous for Ed Oakley, or any other elected representative for that matter, to be communicating these false statements to the citizens of Dallas.  I had to explain to a smart friend just the other day why this TIF is B-A-D.  I keep repeating this to people over and over and over again, I'm getting sick of hearing myself talk about it. 

You know, you don't have to be a bean counter to understand "numbers" and budgets, you just have to have a brain (and patience).  I wonder how many other council members also don't "get it", and how many do get it, but are flat out lairs?  Either way, they shouldn't be voting on these important issues, and I cannot believe the arrogance (or ignorance, whichever the case may be) of Ed Oakley in his letter.  I'm glad I don't live in District 6, or I'd be calling for his head.

Cassie Pierce