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Letters To The Editor Mike Barrett engaging in Jim Spore's "Smoke 'n Mirrors" accounting to justify taxpayer ripoff!
Letters To The Editor Mike Barrett engaging in Jim Spore's "Smoke 'n Mirrors" accounting to justify taxpayer ripoff!
Mike Barrett engaging in Jim Spore's "Smoke 'n Mirrors" accounting to justify taxpayer ripoff!
Wednesday, 07 April 2010 07:41 | 
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Editor:
Contrary to Mikes Barrett's relentless and inaccurate assertion, (in a letter to another organization) the debt service on the Town Center TIF is NOT being paid off by the new taxes of the project. Not by a long shot!
The TIF has siphoned off the tax revenue from 560+ self sufficient properties from the General Fund. These properties are located in the "non-core" boundary within 317 acres of the so called TIF.
The real estate revenues generated from the 317 acres help subsidize the 33 acre Town Center TIF.
These major tax dollars represent about half of the revenues required to pay down on the TIF debt service or other related Town Center costs.
Furthermore, much of the TIF tax dollars received from "non-core" & "core" real estate does not all go directly to the General Fund. Much of it is actually diverted to the resort area.
Included in that massive subsidy is a whopping 75% of all citywide hotel room tax, 36.4% of all citywide food tax, and 100% of all citywide amusement tax .
A monumental $42 million was hijacked off these specific tax rolls last year alone! The new TIF's real estate tax will not go into the General Fund for 20+ years and that may be extended by another 5 to 10 years similar to the practice recently enacted by several states.
The City's tax base is 85% residential vs 15% commercial and that simply means that residents carry most of the tax burden and are responsible for most of the tax revenue.
Residents also support 85% of the debt ceiling based on the residential assets of there assessments which approximates $47 billion in FY 2010.
The City borrowed about $3 billion and paid back $1.6 billion since 2000 with the remainder treated as long term debt.
In 2009, the long term debt service approximated $1.7 billion and that sizable debt included some $470+ million in interest charges!
Despite the fact that residents serve as the primary economic benefactor in VB and account for 85% of debt service payments, very little of either the tax revenue or bond revenue are returned to revitalize the 987 aging neighborhoods.
Al Saferstein - Virginia Beach Citizen
Contrary to Mikes Barrett's relentless and inaccurate assertion, (in a letter to another organization) the debt service on the Town Center TIF is NOT being paid off by the new taxes of the project. Not by a long shot!
The TIF has siphoned off the tax revenue from 560+ self sufficient properties from the General Fund. These properties are located in the "non-core" boundary within 317 acres of the so called TIF.
The real estate revenues generated from the 317 acres help subsidize the 33 acre Town Center TIF.
These major tax dollars represent about half of the revenues required to pay down on the TIF debt service or other related Town Center costs.
Furthermore, much of the TIF tax dollars received from "non-core" & "core" real estate does not all go directly to the General Fund. Much of it is actually diverted to the resort area.
Included in that massive subsidy is a whopping 75% of all citywide hotel room tax, 36.4% of all citywide food tax, and 100% of all citywide amusement tax .
A monumental $42 million was hijacked off these specific tax rolls last year alone! The new TIF's real estate tax will not go into the General Fund for 20+ years and that may be extended by another 5 to 10 years similar to the practice recently enacted by several states.
The City's tax base is 85% residential vs 15% commercial and that simply means that residents carry most of the tax burden and are responsible for most of the tax revenue.
Residents also support 85% of the debt ceiling based on the residential assets of there assessments which approximates $47 billion in FY 2010.
The City borrowed about $3 billion and paid back $1.6 billion since 2000 with the remainder treated as long term debt.
In 2009, the long term debt service approximated $1.7 billion and that sizable debt included some $470+ million in interest charges!
Despite the fact that residents serve as the primary economic benefactor in VB and account for 85% of debt service payments, very little of either the tax revenue or bond revenue are returned to revitalize the 987 aging neighborhoods.
Al Saferstein - Virginia Beach Citizen
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