[Peace] Letter in today's NG

[Victoria Carlson]

Please remove me from this mailing list as I no longer live in IL. Thanks.


On Sat, Feb 1, 2014 at 9:12 AM, David Green <davegreen84 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> The Champaign City Council is on the verge of approving a new tax
> increment financing district for the sole purpose of giving Kraft Food Inc.
> a $3.6 million tax subsidy to build a new warehouse. According to City
> Manager Dorothy David, the TIF has no other purpose and can be terminated
> once the warehouse project is funded.
> One might ask how the city council was convinced that a Fortune 500
> company, with recent quarterly profits of $500 million, revenue over $4.4
> billion and investments in the local plant of $20 million to $30 million
> each of the past 10 years, suddenly needs a taxpayer subsidy.
> Could it be because the city allowed Kraft's agent, Grant Thornton, a
> high-powered corporate tax adviser, to play the lead role in writing the
> redevelopment project plan and to conduct the eligibility study? City
> Manager David stated in an August 2013 memo: "Kraft's consultant Grant
> Thornton will do most of the work to prepare the documentation to qualify
> this property ... with review by the City." Both reports were submitted on
> Grant Thornton letterhead and prepared for the city of Champaign.
> The benefits to Kraft are obvious. The benefits to the community are less
> so, and long-term job growth is neither guaranteed nor promised by Kraft.
> One must wonder if this TIF project represents the flexing of corporate
> muscle by threatening the community "not to build if not approved," and
> when given the opportunity, to directly manipulate TIF laws for corporate
> gain at taxpayers' expense.
> DURL KRUSE
> Urbana
>
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>
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