Today in the Commercial Appeal, there was an article about how "irked" Mayor Wharton was about the ad running criticizing local government giving away tax breaks to corporate and real estate interests. In the article Memphis Tomorrow was mentioned and the Memphis Fast Forward Plan. A lot of people don't have any idea who Memphis Tomorrow is and why it should be granted such large role in shaping public policy. Their first introduction to Memphis Tomorrow was most likely the Consolidation fight a couple years ago. I thought it would be enlightening to take a look at Memphis Tomorrow and it's relationship with the CA, since they do so much to shape the subject matter and tone of political discourse here.
First, it should be remember that the CA editorial board and Memphis Tomorrow are made up of people. They are people with families that live the same neighborhoods, who go to the same churches, parties, stores, and restaurants, and their kids to the same schools. Many underestimate the role of how social circles and environments play on shaping political (policy) narratives and frameworks of acceptability. Taking a look at the first map, you can see how small and close knit the Memphis Tomorrow and CA editorial board are with themselves and each other.
One of the most interesting things I find about Memphis Tomorrow is how relatively politically inept and ham handed they are. Especially in the Consolidation fight. To say Memphis Tomorrow has little to no legitimacy outside the Poplar Corridor and halls of government would be an understatement. Why is this? Memphis Tomorrow has 20 members. Six are high turnout democratic voters. Three are high turnout republican voters. Three others are slightly leaning republican voters. One is completely nonpartisan. Another member has voted once, two have never voted here in Shelby County, and one has not bothered to vote in several years. Some of them might be new but that still begs the question why do you get to be on Memphis Tomorrow since you just got here Yesterday? Also, check out the proximity with which Memphis Tomorrow members live to each other. Almost half of them live in the same neighborhood as another member. Hell, the publisher of the CA is in Memphis Tomorrow and has two members living right by him. Aside from a couple members in Cordova, they don't live by many black folks either. (It should be noted one of the Memphis Tomorrow members living in Cordova is black so I'm not sure how that counts.)Is it any wonder the organization can not relate to most of the public and the issues those people face.
The focus of the ad so "irking" Mayor Wharton is about tax breaks and squandering resources. Here's a map of PILOTS. Notice how the Center City Commission has giving away our tax base like it is candy. Remember that the redevelopment of downtown was supposed help everyone in the city. Most of those CCC PILOTs are for real estate development (apartments, condos, etc) not necessarily economic development. The city has a whole subsidizes real estate development without seeing much returned to the tax base, at the same time city government tells employees and citizens not in downtown we must all sacrifice because of narrowing tax base. I wonder why that negatively resonates with so many Memphians?
The final map is about bubbles. Now certainly the candidates running against Wharton were not stellar, but almost everyone of the CA editors and Memphis Tomorrow members had a fairly good chance of not even knowing a person that didn't vote for AC. Seriously, some precincts voted 97% for AC. Saddam Hussein had to actually kill to get vote percentages that high. (I heard Sacha Baron Cohen will play AC in the movie of his life. Just joking) This illustrates group think and what is that? Corporatist Neo-liberalism. The ad is referencing AC's political Achilles Heel. A lot of black folks in Memphis are not feeling they are benefiting from Memphis Fast Forward.
2 Comments:
Interesting analysis, but you've got one thing wrong. The Center City PILOTS actually result in MORE taxes being paid, not less. You see, not all PILOTs are the same. Center City PILOTS work differently and actually require the property owner to pay more, not less, than he was paying before. Here's a fuller explanation.
http://www.smartcitymemphis.com/2011/04/downtown-pilots-are-different/
7:45 PM
Wow, I am impressed by the altruistic nature of downtown development by the willingness to pay more in taxes then required. It is interesting how the "MORE" is explained though. That hinges on this statement."Downtown PILOTs aren’t freezing taxes. Rather, they stop downtown taxes on properties from continuing to fall." I guess there is some truthiness to the claim you would be paying more by freezing your property taxes at $100 when there may be a possibility that your property taxes could fall to $90. But the question is how likely are property values going to fall in an area getting large government investment and offers of incentives to private interests? Lets say I had a map of downtown Memphis in the early to mid 1990's. That map shows the city invested in Beale St and that the Peabody Hotel has been successful for over ten years. The Pyramid has just come online. Additionally, at the national level you have a push towards downtown redevelopments. The new mayor has made downtown redevelopment a center piece of his administration. Finally, my map shows me all the public housing projects circling downtown will be demolished and replaced by mixed income HOPE VI redevelopments. If I'm a savvy investor with political connections, it seems like a low risk investment opportunity.
The CCC plays an interesting role in this, because it is a government unto itself. It was given the power to set tax policy within its boundaries by giving PILOTS. Over the years, it has expanded its powers to even have its own privatized security forces. All this while being unelected. Being able to issue PILOTS and having the in house vehicle to finance deals, the CCC was able to operate with less scrutiny than the city council. It has only been in the past couple years that complete lists of PILOTS issued by the CCC were compiled and made available. Many council members and the administration had no idea what properties were PILOTS or when those properties would roll back onto the city property tax rolls.
But back to paying "MORE". Maybe there was a 10% chance property values would fall and a developer would get stuck paying more taxes than he should for a development. That leaves a 90% chance the tax freeze will save that developer money.
As for only 5% have PILOTS, how many properties are there Downtown?
9:15 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home