Last Monday, in a rare vote against Mayor Bill Finch’s administration, the City Council rejected a proposed tax abatement for a developer. Tax deal too long? Too generous? Election year cover? From Brian Lockhart, CT Post:
Which side will blink in the game of tax-abatement chicken?
The City Council’s surprising vote this week rejecting a 35-year tax break for Phase 2 of a mixed-income housing project on the East Side has put the development into limbo.
Full story here.
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Let the threatening, bribery and coercion begin!
There’s a lot of room for negotiation? There shouldn’t be. The deal should have been constructed in a manner most advantageous to the financial health of the City the first time. How is it this “room for negotiation” is being ferreted out now?
When they could not get a deplorable pocket-lining travesty of a deal past the City Council (thank you guys), now they seek to negotiate for the greater good. Self-interest first, constituency second.
Most of the folks involved in putting this “deal” together would have been dead by the time the developer experienced any type of tax ramifications.
How’s that for a reality check?
If the developer is going to hold their breath for a 35-year deal, they are going to suffocate. The neighborhood needs the housing and development, it does not however need a developer who has very little investment or interest in the community they are minimally investing in. I am sure they can agree on a 10-year or nothing agreement.
Great comments, Wicca and Steve!
Finch has already promised this deal. And after he could not deliver the votes, the developer is not going to accept a proposal that includes wait until after the election.
The city will present to the council and the council will pass an MOU that includes all of the city’s requirements and all of the developer’s desires and all the council deems necessary.
The MOU will include language that says the mayor is authorized to complete a deal that incorporates most of what is included in the MOU.
The missing council member will reappear. Maybe a few of the no’s will become yeses and if need be Finch will veto the council slamming his fists saying he will not allowing politics to torpedo a project as vital as this. And YES Bridgeport is getting bitter every day. And he will say something about the crime rate.
Isn’t this the same Todd McClutchy (principal of the JHM Financial group) who poured (with help from family members in getting around election-law payoff–I mean, donation–limits) around $20,000 into Governor Malloy’s campaign coffers?
Isn’t this the same Todd McClutchy/JHM Financial Group that was chosen by Malloy to handle the $500 million Stamford train station renovation/expansion project?
How much has the McClutchy family/JHM Financial poured into the Finch campaign coffers?
It would seem the McClutchy family is to the Malloy Administration (et al.) what the Tomasso family was to the Rowland Administration.
Will there be direct train service from Bridgeport and Hartford to Danbury, Fort Dix and Lewisburg PA as part of the Governor’s transportation initiative?
Couple of points:
Reconsideration of a vote would need to be done by the next council meeting, not in the coming weeks or months as McCarthy is quoted as saying. But then, who needs council rules or Robert’s Rules?
City ordinance chapter 3.2 was adopted in the early 1990s to provide structure and guidelines for ‘tax incentives.’ The incentives are for projects that create jobs and generates taxes, not for subsidized housing. Let HUD do the project and not have city taxpayers subsidize it by paying higher property taxes.
After all is said and done, the scenario Bob Walsh detailed will likely happen.
Tom,
Your scenario would be a motion to reconsider. My scenario is a ‘totally different’ motion and could be simply fast-tracked under immediate consideration.
Bob Walsh nailed this outcome, I have no doubt this will get done, Finch needs this to get done to keep a major donor happy. If push comes to shove, expect Anastasi to come up with a loophole/opinion, quickly.
Each Finch/Malloy/JMH Housing unit will pay after subtracting cost of City services like garbage, snow removal, education, police and fire.
The average car owner in Bridgeport will pay more for car insurance every six months than one of these 177 housing units will pay per year in property tax! That’s $700 per year per unit for 35 years!
Each housing unit will only add $220 to our tax rolls per year, for the next 35 years!
This is not what you call tax abatement! This is a gift from Finch to Malloy!
And they put Bernie Madoff in jail?