Tag: Subsidy
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Wichita’s economic development is expensive, risky
Sunday’s Wichita Eagle carried an op-ed piece written by Doug Stanley, vice chairman of the Greater Wichita Economic Development Coalition. As we might expect, he calls for more government involvement and management of economic development.
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In Wichita, special assessment financing gone wild
At today’s meeting of the Wichita City Council, a privately-owned condominium association is seeking special assessment financing to make repairs to it building.
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Wichita facade improvement program bad for Wichitans
As this city council decides whether to give a grant of $20,000 to a private business, we need to consider the effect of programs like this on all the people of Wichita. And people are telling me that they don’t like it. They wonder why, at a time when the city is struggling with its…
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Wichita to consider grant to business
On Tuesday June 16, the Wichita City Council will consider whether to give a business $20,000. How is this possible? Is everyone eligible for grants like this?
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Kansas historic tax credits should end
The Wichita Business Journal reports that without historic tax credits, some redevelopment projects might stop. In other words — the Business Journal isn’t quite so blunt — if taxpayers don’t give developers money, some of their projects might not be economically feasible. Or so the developers say.
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Sedgwick County industrial park chasing uncertain industries
Sedgwick County is considering becoming a developer of an industrial park. The county is limiting itself to deals described as a “home run,” meaning a company that plans to hire more than 1,000 workers. The problem is that there are few of these deals each year. Maybe just five to eight. But Sedgwick County’s policy…
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Sedgwick County needs to slow down, deliberate land purchase
Sedgwick County seems to be in a rush to make a huge decision that will have far-reaching and long-lasting effects on our county. We don’t have, however, anywhere near all the information we need to make this decision. We need to slow down and decide what role we want to have county government play in…
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Wichita facade improvement loan program: questions to answer
Schemes like this lead to the broader question: Will any project in downtown Wichita ever be accomplished without the taxpayer being involved? That’s what people — at least me — are criticizing. I’m not against downtown development, Mr. Mayor. I’m against the taxpayer being dragged into deals like this that may or may not work.…
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Wichita Chamber of Commerce makes case for interventionism
In a talk to the Wichita Pachyderm Club on Friday April 24, 2009, Bryan S. Derreberry, President and CEO of the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce, laid out the case for government management of our area’s economic and community development. The title of the talk was “The Basis for Economic Partner Selection and Collaborative Efforts.”…