Rein in tax giveaways to developers
A Florida-based developer with a major project underway in DeKalb County wants $52 million in tax breaks — complete freedom from having to pay property taxes for the next 20 years on most of the Sembler Co. Town Brookhaven project on Peachtree Road near Oglethorpe University.
This should be the wake-up call Georgians need to sharply curtail tax giveways to developers. We should in this instance heed the advice of David Sjoquist, the director of the fiscal research center at Georgia State University’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies (it’s hard to quote this guy in print because his title and affiliation go on forever; but that’s neither here nor there. His research is sound and here his advice is too.)
Sjoquist says that in the absence of a growing economy new retail space merely cannibalizes existing businesses. Those property owners, ironically, must pay the taxes the new guys avoid. “The common argument is that you shold not subsidize retailing,” he told the AJC’s Ty Tagami. “From a regional perspective, it does not make any sense.”
Tax subsidies to retailers should be limited to ghetto areas where, but for the tax giveaways, developers would not come. And there, the giveaways should be limited in time and by size. That is, the development should be big enough to significantly change the character of the neighborhood and giveaways should not continue after development has begun to take root. In short, tax giveaways should not go to developers to construct projects in the path of growth or where development would have occurred within a reasonable period of time otherwise.
The problem with tax giveaways is that they do amount to tax shifts. The taxes one guy avoids another pays. And once they get started, everybody wants one. Politicians have not discipline. They like to think of themselves as movers-and-shakers making things happen. In most instances, they’re chickens being plucked.
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62 comments Add your comment
rich
June 18th, 2009
8:26 am
look at Sembler’s other failed companies Straight, Incorporated abused kids, Baywalk failed in St Pete and left the taxpayers holding the bill and Centro Ybor failed in Tampa and Sembler left the taxpayers with a $16 mil bill. VOTE NO to Sembler
janie Hopwood
June 18th, 2009
8:47 am
And then there is the tax break that no one understands. Georgia gave Trammel Crowe a 10 million dollar tax break to develop a property on Jekyll Island beachfront. Trammel Crowe then offered the same amount to Linger Longer, whose co-owner is heading up Eric Johnson’s run for governor, for the privilege of developing the property next to the one we “Paid” them to develop. There has to be a fairer, less corrupt system of doing business.
Wake up, Ebenezer Sembler before it’s too late
June 18th, 2009
8:50 am
[...] Sembler’s business practices are at issue in Sembler’s request for a $52 million tax gift from the DeKalb residents, we thought Wesley Fager summarized it best with his last commentary to the St. Petersburg [...]
jconservative
June 18th, 2009
8:56 am
Welfare by any other name is still welfare.
Big Bucks GOP doing the Lords work
June 18th, 2009
8:58 am
Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner is heading to Congress today to
discuss the Obama administration’s plan to overhaul financial
regulations.
On Wednesday, President Barack Obama proposed a new regulatory
structure for the United States financial system, declaring that it is
needed to protect the rights of ordinary consumers and to guard against
the practices that led to the financial crisis.
No sooner had Mr. Obama proposed a new road map for the financial
system than lawmakers expressed reservations about the plan to broadly
expand the regulatory reach of the Federal Reserve.
Big Bucks GOP doing the Lords work
June 18th, 2009
8:59 am
Eddie Bauer, the clothing chain that sold goose-down coats to Mount
Everest mountaineers and college students alike, filed for bankruptcy
while seeking a sale to CCMP Capital, a private equity firm.
Big Bucks GOP doing the Lords work
June 18th, 2009
9:00 am
Rupert Murdoch has agreed to sell The Weekly Standard magazine to a
Denver-based media company owned by the billionaire Phil Anschutz.
Fed Up
June 18th, 2009
9:01 am
They say that “because of this economy” (an excuse I’m getting very sick of hearing and reading), they can’t develop the remaining acreage. OK, then – sell it to someone who refuses to participate in “this economy” and let the new owner develop it. Don’t give these guys a tax break and raise our residential taxes for “special services”.
Big Bucks GOP doing the Lords work
June 18th, 2009
9:02 am
Friedman Fleischer & Lowe said it had agreed to snap up Church’s
Chicken, the world’s third-biggest fast-food chicken chain, from
Arcapita, the Islamic investment group.
Big Bucks GOP doing the Lords work
June 18th, 2009
9:04 am
American International Group has chosen Deutsche Bank and Morgan
Stanley as joint global coordinators for an I.P.O. of its Asian life
insurance unit, which is expected to raise more than $4 billion,
Citizen of the World
June 18th, 2009
9:04 am
Yes. We are over-stored, and we don’t need more retail except in depressed areas.
We do need more affordable housing, though. If our leaders are so eager to give tax breaks, maybe they could do so to encourage that. It’s a shame for our firemen, policemen, teachers, nurses, secretaries, etc., to have to live way out just to find a house they can afford.
Big Bucks GOP doing the Lords work
June 18th, 2009
9:06 am
Prosecutors have delayed for a third time the indictment of David G.
Friehling, the accountant who provided auditing services to Bernard L.
Madoff’s investment advisory business, in a sign he may be cooperating
with investigators.
Ga Values
June 18th, 2009
9:09 am
I agree with you, I lost track of the Jekyll Island development in our Republican Georgia Legislature. What happened there? How bad did the taxpayer get screwed in that deal?
Bo Chambliss LOBBYIST
June 18th, 2009
9:14 am
Saxby on Ensign
“John has to make his own personal decision relative to his family as well as the political side of this,” Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) said of Ensign. “He’s got to get his personal life in order, and that comes first.”
Chambliss said Ensign shouldn’t resign.
Curious Observer
June 18th, 2009
9:16 am
Don’t give tax breaks to developers, but also don’t give them to corporations that move jobs from one state to another. What a short memory Wooten has! Only a couple of weeks ago there was praise for Sonny’s efforts to get a corporation to move operations to Georgia, at a state cost of $140,000 per job. That little maneuver left one state with increased unemployment, while Georgia taxpayers were left holding the bag.
In a recession, the last thing needed is another condo/shopping development that empties existing developments. I suppose it’s good for the sign makers. Everywhere I drive these days, I see “Going out of business” signs among the few stores still existing in the smaller shopping centers. The other store areas remain dark and vacant. It is insane to have Georgia taxpayers subsidizing additions to this trend.
Peter
June 18th, 2009
9:18 am
Gee Jim.Have you become a turncoat ? Turning on Greedy Republican developers ?
Wow how about the wonderful News today…Georgia has the WORST UNEMPLOYMENT EVER !
Nice job by the 2 term Republican Governor. Well he has doubled his Net worth while in Office, and has that nice Fish Hatchery going…….. Got to love the Pork !
catlady
June 18th, 2009
9:23 am
Then there is the last minute lawmaking to allow a governor to avoid taxes on property he has sold.
Then there is special dealing to allow a state representative to avoid allowing the terms of his divorce to become public. (I know that did not cost money, but it cost credibility. And credibility is worth something)
Then there is the state building an unneeded attraction right near the Governor’s land. And continuing with the expenditures as the state economy “tanks.” hehehe
Then there is the debacle with losing the fine Oakey Woods (coincidentally right next to the Goveror’s property)
Then there is the millions of loans to the Governor. Where is proof of payment? Or is the loan sitting off book somewhere?
How about the special taxbreaks to an airplane company in SGA so they will “stay here.” And how about that car plant in WGA?
The list is endless.
I agree the taxpayers/school system have NO business subsidizing development of any kind.
When are be going to get rid of this corruption? Or do we just wait and hope that someday they will do something corrupt that will benefit us?
Chris
June 18th, 2009
9:32 am
The AJC needs a new blog called “Problems the thugs caused last night.” There are always great stories!
A judge who has worked for Fulton County Juvenile Court will appear in court tomorrow, but this time as a defendant.
Judge Jacqueline Gibson, 57, is accused of assaulting her 92-year-old mother in May during an attempt to take her mother from a sibling’s home, according to WSB-TV.
_______________________________________________________________________
Three men stabbed in downtown Atlanta bar
One man seriously injured with wounds to face in altercation at Luckie Food Lounge.
________________________________________________________________________
Sandra Alfred, 46, of Lilburn, was arrested Friday for false imprisonment and cruelty to children for using handcuffs to restrain her 15-year-old son, according to Lilburn Police Department spokesman Det. Matthew Lake.
conservative democrat
June 18th, 2009
9:35 am
Sounds like Sonny Economics. We’ll get rid of this corruption when it no longer pays. There needs to be a price. We can put a pot farmer in jail in Georgia for 100 years and these guys walk the streets.
Mac
June 18th, 2009
9:49 am
I agree with you Jim.
Slightly off topic, I thought Kyle “Right” Wingfield and Cindy Tucker were going to start blogging. That’s what the AJC said, anyway.
clyde
June 18th, 2009
9:51 am
Any business that needs tax breaks to get started or to survive isn’t a viable business.It’s a state subsidized good ole boys club that has an unfair advantage over existing businesses.
About Damn Time
June 18th, 2009
9:54 am
Bush takes swipes at Obama policies
Defends interrogations
Former President George W. Bush fired a salvo at President Obama on Wednesday, asserting his administration’s interrogation policies were within the law, declaring the private sector not government will fix the economy and rejecting the nationalization of health care.
“I know it’s going to be the private sector that leads this country out of the current economic times we’re in,” the former president said to applause from members of a local business group. “You can spend your money better than the government can spend your money.”
Repeatedly in his hourlong speech and question-and-answer session, Mr. Bush said he would not directly criticize the new president, who has moved to take over financial institutions and several large corporations. Several times, however, he took direct aim at Obama policies as he defended his own during eight years in office.
“Government does not create wealth. The major role for the government is to create an environment where people take risks to expand the job rate in the United States,” he said to huge cheers.
Mr. Bush weighed in on some of the most pressing issues of the day: the election in Iran, the closing of the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba, and his administration’s interrogation policies of terrorists held there and elsewhere. The former president has not commented on Mr. Obama’s decision to ban “enhanced interrogation techniques” such as waterboarding, which the current president has called “off course” and “based on fear.”
“The way I decided to address the problem was twofold: One, use every technique and tool within the law to bring terrorists to justice before they strike again,” he said, adding that the country needs to stay on offense, not defense. On Guantanamo, which while in office Mr. Bush said he wanted to close, the former president was diplomatic.
“I told you I’m not going to criticize my successor,” he said. “I’ll just tell you that there are people at Gitmo that will kill American people at a drop of a hat and I don’t believe that persuasion isn’t going to work. Therapy isn’t going to cause terrorists to change their mind.”
The Obama administration has started to clear out some of the more than 200 detainees at the facility.
Repeating a mantra from his presidency, he called the current war against terrorism an “ideological conflict,” asserting that in the long term, the United States needs to press freedom and democracy in corners across the world
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jun/18/bush-takes-swipes-at-policies-of-obama/
Jo Atlanta
June 18th, 2009
9:56 am
what clyde said!
Peter
June 18th, 2009
10:01 am
Hey About Damn Time……….Funny stuff from Bush……….“You can spend your money better than the government can spend your money.”
Those Cost Plus contracts really proved he knows how to talk with a Forked Tongue !
conservative democrat
June 18th, 2009
10:07 am
About Damn Time,
Since W. was such a economic genius, can you explain why after eight years of his reign that the stock market was 4000 points (40%) lower than it was when he started his economic plan.
Curious Observer
June 18th, 2009
10:12 am
Cynthia Tucker was on MSNBC last night. This time, she was introduced as an AJC “columnist,” not as an editor. Perhaps she has moved already.
Peter
June 18th, 2009
10:13 am
Heck why talk about Bush here…….. Sonny is running Georgia into the Ground, while he has doubled his net worth, and added secrecy to his personal finances.
Unemployment at an ALL TIME HIGH in Georgia……… Well that will tell us all Republican’s are anything BUT Conservative !
conservative democrat
June 18th, 2009
10:14 am
Also to About Damn Time,
Cheney/Bush want us to believe that the geopolitical ‘ideological conflict’ all started on 9/11. They never talk about what occurred in August ‘01, do they? One thing they did was thumb their nose to Arafat at Ariel Sharon’s bidding. They gave him the White House tour instead of an audience with the administration on August 27, 2001. And they disappeared that from the cybersphere. Why did it disappear?
Copyleft
June 18th, 2009
10:15 am
Nice to see Mr. Wooten finally acknowledging what liberals have known all along: tax break giveaways to developers are a bad idea!
For once, Wooten is ACTUALLY ‘thinking right’–that is, liberally.
Mac
June 18th, 2009
10:19 am
Yes, she’s in D.C., I understand. But, in her column announcing the move, she said she’d start blogging. And, so was Kyle “Right” Wingfield. They are moving awfully slowly, it seems.
Chris Broe
June 18th, 2009
11:29 am
Grading Wooten: “The tax one guy avoids another pays. And once they get started everybody wants one….In most instances they’re chickens being plucked.”
C+
Would you hire a journalist who writes like Wooten? This newspaper is written by teams of mediocrities working around the clock at the typesetter level in the calligraphy centers in China. The discretionary skills of the editors combine with their visionary insights like hamburger helper does with syrup. Their editorial prowess rates with the sophisticated pallette of hungry gormands at an all-you-can-eat Sheet-On-a-Shingle buffet. Jklol.
From Wire Services: North Korea responded to Obama’s fly swat yesterday when their evil Mickey Mouse (remember him?) killed seven flies with one blow, and, for good measure, they also launched a medium range bottle rocket strike on a hornet’s nest, killing at least 37 bees, according to N. Korea spokeman, “Obama doesn’t scare us. We’ve got plenty more insects. Go ‘head, make our day.”
CNN reported that 100% of the Twitters out of Iran yesterday read, “Death to America!”. “These people are nuts”, complained a white house spokesman. “I guess it’s true…You can’t teach old blogs new tricks.”
Today on television: CNN asked a “man on the street” in Iran what he wanted his stolen vote to accomplish. “We want death to America.” When asked what he thought Ahmadinejad wanted, he answered, “Death to America.” When asked what the heck the difference was, the man said, “He wants death to america with no mercy. We want death to america with mercy. We’re better. He needs to go. Can I give a message to the citizens of the US? Yes? Good, Hello, My name is Ahkmed. Death to America! Oh, we’re gonna keel you a thousand times! All of you! Death and destruction to all! But with mercy. Okay? I Love Paula Abdul! What happened to Sanjaya?”
(Camera to reporter wrestling Ahkmed to the ground and wresting the microphone back).
Today’s market advice: Obviously things have stabilized in Iran. Buy.
Michelle Obama
June 18th, 2009
12:12 pm
Peter, you are aptly named, tool.
Peter
June 18th, 2009
12:20 pm
HA HA HA………Michelle Obama………. I guess you have zero guts hiding like a little chicken behind another person’s name……. Seems Very Republican……!
Are you cheating on your spouse as well ?
Anna
June 18th, 2009
12:28 pm
Jim Wooten makes an excellent point, which is that financial incentives for development of prime public lands are a waste of taxpayer dollars. A case in point is the tens of millions of dollars that have been shelled out to two developers – Linger Longer Communities and Trammell Crow – for oceanfront projects within Jekyll Island State Park. Why would anyone believe that incentives are necessary for the development of oceanfront property on Georgia’s only barrier islands state park? Apparently, Governor Perdue and the leadership of the Georgia Republican Party in the House and Senate think these giveaways are just fine, for they have approved of the contracts allowing these two, billionaire developers to make astronomically huge profits at the expense of the citizen owners of JI State Park and have pushed through $50 million in State bonds to pay for the infrastructure for Linger Longer’s Jekyll town center project at a time when vital services and programs are being slashed due a budget crisis. Go figure – millions of dollars in ‘incentives’ and $50 million in taxpayer backed General Obligation bonds go out the window at a time when we can least afford what amounts to corporate welfare. As former JIA board member Senator Ed Boshears said, “This real stinks really, really bad.” It’s time for a federal investigation of the Jekyll giveaways, says Boshears and others who have an inside look at the Jekyll deals. I agree.
Chris Broe
June 18th, 2009
12:44 pm
Fox five news at 12:00 has a weather girl named Cheryl who is so plus-sized, you can’t see the weather map behind her. Worse, her voice is so obnoxious, I’d rather listen to a hog getting a colonoscopy. There is weather out there today, people, but I have no idea what it is. If only there was a way to tell what was going on outside my front door in the general atmosphere. I know, I’ll turn on Fox Five news. Good, it’s the weather. Hey, step aside, Momma Cass!
This is what I mean about every aspect of Atlanta media: The peter principle in overdrive. What R U laughin’ at, Wooten trolls? As trolls, you make great venters.
About Damn Time
June 18th, 2009
12:57 pm
conservative democrat, Arafat was a terrorist. Why would they give him the time of day? Better question is, why am I giving you the time of day?
I don’t have to answer any of your questions. I for one, did not put all my money into 401k because the stock market fluctuates and is unpredictable. 401k was not designed for government intervention and was meant to be tax free. I’m sure your 401k will eventually head back up but maybe you should make better money decisions. Have a nice day.
About Damn Time
June 18th, 2009
1:00 pm
Peter, yeah I guess so but still, his point about individuals spending their own money is much smarter than President Obamas spend spend spend us into debt like never before. President Obama has never run a business before and lacks the skills and knowledge to make those decisions. Unemployment is at 10% and NOW President Obama says the stimulus package didn’t work.
A Lot of money down the drain for nothing. I want my “change” back.
Jane Fraser
June 18th, 2009
1:01 pm
We applaud Jim Wooten who makes an imortant point, which is that financial incentives for development of prime public lands are a waste of taxpayer dollars. In the case of Jekyll Island, tens of millions of dollars have gone to two developers – Linger Longer Communities and Trammell Crow – for projects on prime oceanfront land within the Jekyll Island State Park. Why would anyone other than a politician believe that incentives are necessary for the development of oceanfront property on our only barrier island State Park? As we learn more and more about these dealings, we see that Senator Boshears was right about the deal – it does stink!
About Damn Time
June 18th, 2009
1:02 pm
President Obama is taking it in the backside from his constituents. HA!
Obama fends off criticism from gay supporters
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama signaled to gay rights activists Wednesday that he’s listening to their priorities by extending some benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees. But he didn’t give them even close to everything they want, bringing growing anger against the president to the surface.
Obama aides urged gays and lesbians to have patience with the new White House’s slow-and-steady approach to the politically charged topic. But his critics—and there were many—saw Wednesday’s incremental move to expand gay rights as little more than pandering to a reliably Democratic voting bloc, with the primary aim not of making policy more fair but of cutting short a fundraising boycott.
“When a president tells you he’s going to be different, you believe him,” said John Aravosis, a Washington-based gay activist. “It’s not that he didn’t follow through on his promises, he stabbed us in the back.”
Obama has refused to take any concrete steps toward a repeal of a policy that bans gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military, even though as a candidate he pledged to scrap the Clinton-era rules. He similarly has refused to step in and block the dismissal of gays and lesbians who face courts martial for disclosing their sexual orientation.
“People feel they’re owed an apology,” said Richard Socarides, a New York lawyer who advised President Bill Clinton on gay issues. “People in the gay community feel he over-promised and under-delivered. Now, with over 250 discharges from the military on his watch … the grace period is over.”
Trying to quell that anger, Obama was set on Wednesday to sign small changes in benefits available to same-sex couples. For instance, employees’ domestic partners to be added to a government insurance program that pays for long-term conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease. They also would be allowed to take sick leave to care for a sick partner or non-biological child.
“This is a matter of fairness,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said.
Partners, however, would not have access to primary health insurance or to pensions. Such a move would require action from Congress.
“If you really parse it, it seems to say the president directed some federal agencies to give some federal employees some federal benefits at some undisclosed time in the future,” Aravosis said.
Several powerful gay fundraisers withdrew their support from a Democratic National Committee event scheduled for June 25 where Vice President Joe Biden is expected to speak. Their withdrawal comes after a handful of public missteps that White House officials concede were not handled with the best eye on public relations.
The breaking point came last week, when the administration defended the Defense of Marriage Act, which allows states to reject another state’s legalized gay marriages and blocks federal Washington from recognizing those state-based unions. Overturning it is a top legislative target for gay activists. But Justice Department lawyers used incest as a reason to support the law.
Gibbs argued that the administration had no choice but to defend existing laws and said Obama still believes it should be repealed. But he also would give no specific timeframe for doing that, or for overturning the military’s “don’t ask don’t tell” policy in effect since 1993.
“We are working on a large amount of things,” Gibbs said. “Of course I can understand their frustrations. … But it is a priority of the president to get done.”
Critics saw the Justice memo as evidence of Obama saying one thing and doing another.
“I was profoundly disappointed by this action, particularly coming from this administration,” said Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., the first openly gay non-incumbent to win election to Congress. “I still take President Obama at his word that he is committed to the repeal … I also recognize that he cannot do it alone.”
Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., defended Obama against criticism that he has been slow to deliver on his campaign promises.
“The notion that if someone doesn’t agree with you 100 percent, then you shouldn’t be supportive of him—versus someone who disagrees with you 100 percent—is very bad politics,” said Frank, who was the first openly gay man re-elected to Congress.
John Berry, head of the Office of Personnel Management and the highest-ranking gay official in the administration, said the president is doing the best he can while waiting for Congress to act.
“This is a first step,” said Berry, who acknowledged that some of the benefits being put into place by the presidential memorandum already exist at some agencies. “Not a final step.”
Mac
June 18th, 2009
1:38 pm
Chris, I have a similar problem with lovely, cougarlicious Karen Minton on WSB. I’m so busy thinking impure thoughts when she’s on screen, I miss the forecast.
Peter
June 18th, 2009
1:43 pm
OK Coward with the stolen Michelle Obama name…….. Yes you are the typical Republican hiding in the closet.
Joe
June 18th, 2009
1:48 pm
Tax breaks should go to redevelopment not new development.
In the case of Jekyll Island, there are plenty of complexes that could be redeveloped/refurbished.
Let the developers put their money where their mouths are. If they believe they can be profitable developing Jekyll Island, they then can be profitable refurbishing Jekyll Island. There is no need to sacrafice new land on the island when adequate developmental area exists already.
deegee
June 18th, 2009
2:07 pm
Cheryl White is part of the Good Day Atlanta show that comes on in the morning on MyFoxAtlanta. It’s an embarrassment.
conservative democrat
June 18th, 2009
2:22 pm
About Damn Time,
Your right, Arafat was a terrorist! And another man’s freedom fighter. He was the spokesman for the most significant area in world events then and now. Even YOU can see what thumbing noses at him accomplished. It was a foreign policy blunder. Unless of course, your objective was to get oil to $147 a barrell. And that is exactly what Cheney/Bush did accomplish. If they were as smart as you seem to believe, that couldn’t have been a mere coincidence.
By the way, I bought 1000 shares of MSFT in February 1986 on the IPO and haven’t had to worry about money since. $40,000 = $100,000,000 has weathered black monday October 19th 1987, 9/11/01, as well as current crisis. Buy the dips, sell the rallys…
conservative democrat
June 18th, 2009
2:41 pm
About Damn Time,
Writes, “Better question is, why am I giving you the time of day?
I don’t have to answer any of your questions.”
Only because you write assinine statements that you can’t substantuate with facts…
Copyleft
June 18th, 2009
2:57 pm
ADT is right in one regard: on the gay-rights issue, Obama has been a disappointment to many voters who hoped we’d elected an actual liberal, rather than the pragmatic moderate we have in office. And Obama is certainly no liberal.
Of course, that was wishful-thinking style projection on their part. After all, after Bush, ANYONE would’ve looked like a knight in shining armor.
conservative democrat
June 18th, 2009
3:12 pm
Copyleft,
Indeed!
Peter
June 18th, 2009
3:14 pm
Hey About Damn Time……..Bush never ran a successful business…..look how he left America reeling…..so your point ?
conservative democrat
June 18th, 2009
3:33 pm
Peter,
According to Helen Thomas, Shrub was the worst president we’ve ever had. She should know. She interview them all.
conservative democrat
June 18th, 2009
3:33 pm
Peter,
According to Helen Thomas, Shrub was the worst president we’ve ever had. She should know. She interviewed them all.