Tag: Wichita city council
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City Council divvies up tax dollars for the arts
A Wichita Eagle news story today tells how City Council divvies up tax dollars for the arts. Can you imagine sitting through these meetings with people like Joan Cole and other members of the Arts Council as they decide who gets — and who doesn’t get — government largesse? I imagine that these people actually…
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Wichita Mayor and City Council Prefer to Work Out of Media Spotlight
In a statement read at the August 26, 2008 meeting of the Wichita City Council (see City Council Acts on Arena Area Redevelopment), Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer expressed his concern that “The naysayers have gotten too much media attention while those who are engaged and do the hard work are too often ignored and criticized.”…
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Wichita’s Naysayers Shortchanged in Council’s Record
On August 12, 2008, the Wichita City Council considered the establishment of a TIF district that would benefit Reverend Kevass Harding and his real estate development team. At the council meeting Reverend Harding spoke, and then John Todd spoke, and then myself. We all spoke for, I would guess, roughly the same amount of time.…
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Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer, August 12, 2008
Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer believes that without government oversight and planning of our economy, Wichita would revert back to the way it was at its founding.
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Testimony Opposing Tax Increment Financing for the Ken Mar Redevelopment Project
Testimony of John Todd, opposing the formation of a tax increment financing (TIF) district, delivered to the Wichita City Council on August 12, 2008. Mr. Mayor and members of the Wichita City Council, thank you for allowing me this opportunity to speak before you today. My name is John Todd. I stand before you today…
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Wichita City Council’s misunderstanding of tax increment financing
On July 8, 2008 I testified at a public hearing at a Wichita city council meeting. Afterward, a council member told me that I had a “glaring error” in my arguments. I won’t identify this member in order to avoid embarrassing the member. The minutes of the meeting don’t identify the member who said this,…
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Wichita Council Member Jeff Longwell: We Can, and Do, Read
Wichita City Council Member Jeff Longwell, in the news article Little time to review Warren loan terms (July 1, 2008 Wichita Eagle), was reported as remarking “It’s unlikely many residents would read the full contract even if it had been made public earlier.” Mr. Longwell, many people in Wichita do read documents such as these.…
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Wichita Old Town Warren Theater Public Hearing Remarks
From John Todd. Testimony I presented before the Wichita City Council on July 1, 2008 in opposition to the proposed Old Town Warren Theater LLC loan. The question before the council today relates to the proper role of government. I believe the role of government is that of acting as a non-partial judge from the…
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Remarks to Wichita City Council, April 1, 2008
By asking for the TIF financing, developers are sending us a signal that without the special tax favor, their project would not be economically feasible. They evidently have judged that it would not be profitable. They must feel that they will not be able to sell or rent at prices that will cover their costs…
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Testimony on the Wichita New Communities initiative
I am a Wichita area real estate broker and developer, and I am here to speak as a private citizen. I speak in opposition to the city’s $250,000 Funding proposal for the current New Communities Initiative Area, because I believe this program in reality, represents the resurrection of the failed government Urban Renewal housing programs…
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Tax increment financing in Wichita benefits few
How does a TIF district work? The Wichita Eagle reported: “A TIF district doesn’t cost local governments any existing tax money. It takes property taxes paid on new construction that would ordinarily go into government coffers and redirects it to the bond holders who are financing the project.”
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Consider carefully costs of a new Wichita airport terminal
As Wichita considers building a new terminal at its airport, we should pause to consider the effect an expensive new terminal would have on the cost of traveling to and from Wichita, and by extension, the economic health and vitality of our town.