IN 1997, THE CENTER CITY REVENUE FINANCE CORPORATION (CCRFC) GAVE A BLANKET 15 YEAR EXTENSION OF PILOTS (PAYMENTS IN LIEU OF TAXES) TO 61 DOWNTOWN PROPERTIES
I have recently been investigating PILOTS given by the Memphis and Shelby County Industrial Development Board and the Center City Revenue Finance Corporation (CCRFC). I recently reported on some properties granted pilots by the Industrial Development Board of Memphis and Shelby County.
Then I went to the Center City Commission and read through some of their files. Whether you agree or disagree with the purpose and actions of the Center City Commission, we are fortunate to have Jeff Sanford running the organization. He is a person of the highest integrity and his files are completely open to the public as are the actions of the various boards.
What I found was that a lot of properties are paying very low taxes and for a very long period of time. Then I found that before Jeff Sanford took over in June 1998 (Ed Armentrout was the previous President), the board of the CCRFC gave 61 downtown properties a blanket 15 year extension on what was already a lengthy tax exclusion. The purpose of the extension was to divert the tax funds that would normally be coming into the city and the County at the termination date of the original pilot, and use those tax funds to finance new Downtown public projects, mostly parking garages. I have attached a sheet explaining the extension program. Also I have attached a spreadsheet showing the 61 properties involved.
Whether you agree with this program or not, it is important that you understand it and recognize that it will be a long time until we see if the promised golden tax eggs for a revived downtown ever gets laid or if it is just a program to help those downtown property owners on the backs of the residential taxpayers in Memphis and Shelby County.
Click here to see the 61 downtown properties that got a 15 year PILOT extension
Click here to see the rules for the 15 year extensions and how the money is to be used to build downtown garages rather than go to the budget
I have recently been investigating PILOTS given by the Memphis and Shelby County Industrial Development Board and the Center City Revenue Finance Corporation (CCRFC). I recently reported on some properties granted pilots by the Industrial Development Board of Memphis and Shelby County.
Then I went to the Center City Commission and read through some of their files. Whether you agree or disagree with the purpose and actions of the Center City Commission, we are fortunate to have Jeff Sanford running the organization. He is a person of the highest integrity and his files are completely open to the public as are the actions of the various boards.
What I found was that a lot of properties are paying very low taxes and for a very long period of time. Then I found that before Jeff Sanford took over in June 1998 (Ed Armentrout was the previous President), the board of the CCRFC gave 61 downtown properties a blanket 15 year extension on what was already a lengthy tax exclusion. The purpose of the extension was to divert the tax funds that would normally be coming into the city and the County at the termination date of the original pilot, and use those tax funds to finance new Downtown public projects, mostly parking garages. I have attached a sheet explaining the extension program. Also I have attached a spreadsheet showing the 61 properties involved.
Whether you agree with this program or not, it is important that you understand it and recognize that it will be a long time until we see if the promised golden tax eggs for a revived downtown ever gets laid or if it is just a program to help those downtown property owners on the backs of the residential taxpayers in Memphis and Shelby County.
Click here to see the 61 downtown properties that got a 15 year PILOT extension
Click here to see the rules for the 15 year extensions and how the money is to be used to build downtown garages rather than go to the budget
posted by watchdog at
4:31 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home