Re: Alturas Park

[Greg Brown <gregb@alaskapacific.edu>]

bill london wrote:

> Well, it's official....
> Moscow treasurer admitted, in print, that the city has been bailing out the
> Alturas Technology Park--"loaning" the Urban Renewal Agency that underwrote
> the park construction $77,000 this month, for a total of $147,000.
> My thanks to reporter Erin Walter and the Lewiston Tribune for uncovering
> this information and publishing it (today's Tribune, 2/11/00, page 5A).
> So, not only have the taxpayers of Moscow helped a couple of lawyers move
> from downtown to this so-called technology park, we are also left holding
> the bag for the park's development.
> How much more are we taxpayers expected to shell out for this park? Why
> hasn't the city council been investigating this situation?

    The plot thickens.   The fact that dishonesty appears to be the
most enduring characteristic of "economic development" does
little to blunt the disappointment that the good ole boys
got away with one in Moscow.

    Let us recall the words of Larry Hodge and Dale Pernula from
their Daily News commentary 1/13/00:

    "The streets, park, and other infrastructure at Alturas Technology
Park are being paid for with the property taxes generated by the
businesses located there."

    A half-truth at best.  In the 1/15/00 Daily News article, it was
disclosed that the taxing district included more than the business
park itself.  In fact, the taxing district was gerrymandered to include
known, significant tax revenue sources--Tidymans, Eastside
Marketplace, Pizza Hut, Safeway, Parker Ford, Wingers and
Kentucky Fried Chicken.  Now, we learn that this
deceptive effort to insulate the risky business park from
failure was apparently not enough to protect it from the
vicissitudes of speculative economic development.

  One wonder's under whose authority the "loan" is
being extended to the Urban Renewal Agency without
explicit City Council approval.  Generally, it is
unacceptable to have tax monies allocated across different
service areas.  Would someone please ask their Council
representative this question?

--
Greg Brown, Associate Professor
(gregb@alaskapacific.edu)
Alaska Pacific University
(907) 564-8267
Fax: (907) 562-4276