Old Drum

Commentary on Warrensburg, Johnson County and Missouri issues from a Libertarian perspective. View my earlier commentary at www.olddrum.net.

Monday, January 12, 2009

I Told You So!

Yes, I did. Back in 2005, when the Hawthorne development was pushing through their Transportation Development District (AKA the "Wal-Mart tax"), I questioned the both the propriety of asking taxpayers to back a for-profit development and the assumptions involved. Sure enough, the economy turned sour and Hawthorne is back asking for more taxpayer support. See DSJ article, 1/12/09 for details of their request. It seems they want the city to back them to over $1/2 million instead of the agreed $150K per year. WOW! Meanwhile, the DSJ Editor suggests that the city ought to be prudent, yet compromise (DSJ editorial, 1/12/09).


I wonder if anyone in the city has seen the TDD's books? If anyone has requested information under the Sunshine Law?

For background, visit OldDrum.net.

posted by Bill Wayne @ 2:28 PM  

1 Comments:

  • At Monday, January 19, 2009 4:02:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Bill,
    What had me in the article was that it stated that the developer was over a year behind in completing certain parts of the project. Why hasn't the city done the prudent thing and already told him, "you are in violation of an agreement you made with us. If you continue on like this we will not be able to complete our part of the agreement either."
    Get the idea Mr. Edwards, get your act together or you won't be getting anything more from the city!
    I am sorry that the economy has soured and he has found it difficult to complete the project due to his lenders reluctance to provide more funding. However, if he hadn't spent all that money on moving earth, or moving a street that already existed, or other things that caused a delay in development he might not have this problem. One other thing that has me wondering are the occupancy rates of those apartments he built. Did he get as many renters as he supposed there were, or are there a number of units sitting vacant and causing him a negative cash flow?

    Kevin

     

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