Voice For Liberty

Tag: TIF districts

  • No-bid contracts a problem in Wichita

    Wichita Eagle reporting by Bill Wilson uncovers a problem with no-bid contracts for construction projects in Wichita. Fortunately, the city manager recognizes the problem and will propose a partial solution.

    Wilson reports on two past Key Construction garage projects that were completed with costs well over their budgets. Key Construction was scheduled to be the no-bid contractor on the upcoming Douglas Place garage, being built largely to provide parking to the Wichita Ambassador Hotel. The no-bid cost of the garage was to be $6 million, according to a letter of intent passed by the Wichita City Council.

    But when competitively bid, the cost will be almost $1.3 million less. This is a direct savings to taxpayers of the same amount. All members of the council except for Michael O’Donnell (district 4, south and southwest Wichita) voted for the no-bid contract to Key Construction, although Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer was absent. It is certain that he would have voted with the majority, however, as he voted in favor of the letter of intent.

    Because of the perverse economic incentives of tax increment financing (TIF) — one of the two financing sources for the garage — it was actually to the benefit of hotel developers and Key Construction to spend as much as possible on the parking garage. See Wichita TIF: Taxpayer-funded benefits to political players for more on this topic.

    By the way, Key Construction is part of the Ambassador Hotel development team. Further, the owners and principle executives of Key Construction are generous campaign financiers for both liberal and conservative members of the Wichita City Council. See Wichita City Council campaign contributions and Douglas Place for details on Key Construction political contributions.

    This episode illustrates these things: a Wichita City Council almost totally captured by special interests and opportunists, crony capitalism on steroids, and another example of why Wichita and Kansas need pay-to-play laws.

    Wichita city manager proposes eliminating no-bid construction projects

    By Bill Wilson

    The days of awarding construction projects without taking competitive bids might be numbered at City Hall if City Manager Robert Layton has his way, especially with public projects such as parking garages that are part of private commercial development.

    Layton said last week that he intends to ask the City Council for a policy change against those no-bid contracts. The contracts became an issue after council members Michael O’Donnell and Pete Meitzner forced the city to take bids on the city-financed 300-stall parking garage adjacent to the privately financed Ambassador Hotel Wichita at Douglas and Broadway. Bids for the garage came in almost $1.3 million under some project estimates, the first publicly financed downtown parking garage in almost 20 years to come in under budget, according to figures from the city’s office of urban development.

    Continue reading at The Wichita Eagle.

  • Wichita TIF: Taxpayer-funded benefits to political players

    It is now confirmed: In Wichita, tax increment financing (TIF) leads to taxpayer-funded waste that benefits those with political connections at city hall.

    The latest evidence we have is the construction of a downtown parking garage that benefits Douglas Place, especially the Ambassador Hotel, a renovation of a historic building now underway.

    The flow of tax dollars Wichita city leaders had planned for Douglas Place called for taxpayer funds to be routed to a politically-connected construction firm. And unlike the real world, where developers have an incentive to build economically, the city created incentives for Douglas Place developers to spend lavishly in a parking garage, at no cost to themselves. In fact, the wasteful spending would result in profit for them.

    The original plan for Douglas Place as specified in a letter of intent that the city council voted to support, called for a parking garage and urban park to cost $6,800,000. Details provided at the August 9th meeting of the Wichita City Council gave the cost for the garage alone as $6,000,000. The garage would be paid for by capital improvement program (CIP) funds and tax increment financing (TIF). The CIP is Wichita’s long-term plan for building public infrastructure. TIF is different, as we’ll see in a moment.

    At the August 9th meeting it was also revealed that Key Construction of Wichita would be the contractor for the garage. The city’s plan was that Key would not have to bid for the contract, even though the garage is being paid for with taxpayer funds. Council Member Michael O’Donnell (district 4, south and southwest Wichita) expressed concern about the no-bid contract. As a result, the contract was put out for competitive bid.

    Now a winning bid has been determined, according to sources in city hall, and the amount is nearly $1.3 million less than the council was willing to spend on the garage. This is money that otherwise would have gone into the pockets of Key Construction. Because of the way the garage is being paid for, that money would not have been a cost to Douglas Place’s developers. Instead, it would have been a giant ripoff of Wichita taxpayers. This scheme was approved by Mayor Carl Brewer and all city council members except O’Donnell.

    Even worse, the Douglas Place developers have no incentive to economize on the cost of the garage. In fact, they have incentives to make it cost even more.

    Two paths for developer taxes

    Recall that the garage is being paid for through two means. One is CIP, which is a cost to Wichita taxpayers. It doesn’t cost the Douglas Place developers anything except for their small quotal share of Wichita’s overall tax burden. In exchange for that, they get part of a parking garage paid for.

    But the tax increment financing, or TIF, is different. Under TIF, the increased property taxes that Douglas Place will pay as the project is completed won’t go to fund the general operations of government. Instead, these taxes will go to pay back bonds that the city will issue to pay for part of the garage — a garage that benefits Douglas Place, and one that would not be built but for the Douglas Place plans.

    Under TIF, the more the parking garage costs, the more Douglas Place property taxes are funneled back to it — taxes, remember, it has to pay anyway. (Since Douglas Place won’t own the garage, it doesn’t have to pay taxes on the value of the garage, so it’s not concerned about the taxable value of the garage increasing its tax bill.)

    Most people and businesses have their property taxes go towards paying for public services like police protection, firemen, and schools. But TIF allows these property taxes to be used for a developer’s exclusive benefit. That leads to distortions.

    Why would Douglas Place be interested in an expensive parking garage? Here are two reasons:

    First, the more the garage costs, the more the hotel benefits from a fancier and nicer garage for its guests to park in. Remember, since the garage is paid for by property taxes on the hotel — taxes Douglas Place must pay in any case — there’s an incentive for the hotel to see these taxes used for its own benefit rather than used to pay for firemen, police officers, and schools.

    Second, consider Key Construction, the planned builder of the garage under a no-bid contract. The more expensive the garage, the higher the profit for Key.

    Now add in the fact that one of the partners in the Douglas Place project is a business entity known as Summit Holdings LLC, which is composed of David Wells, Kenneth Wells, Richard McCafferty, John Walker Jr., and Larry Gourley. All of these people are either owners of Key Construction or its executives. The more the garage costs, the higher the profit for these people. Remember, they’re not paying for the garage. City taxpayers are.

    The sum of all this is a mechanism to funnel taxpayer funds, via tax increment financing, to Key Construction. The more the garage costs, the better for Douglas Place and Key Construction — and the worse for Wichita taxpayers.

    Fueled by campaign contributions?

    It’s no wonder Key Construction principals contributed $16,500 to Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer and five city council members during their most recent campaigns. Council Member Jeff Longwell (district 5, west and northwest Wichita) alone received $4,000 of that sum, and he also accepted another $2,000 from managing member David Burk and his wife.

    This scheme — of which few people must be aware as it has not been reported anywhere but here — is a reason why Wichita and Kansas need pay-to-play laws. These laws impose restrictions on the activities of elected officials and the awarding of contracts.

    An example is a charter provision of the city of Santa Ana, in Orange County, California, which states: “A councilmember shall not participate in, nor use his or her official position to influence, a decision of the City Council if it is reasonably foreseeable that the decision will have a material financial effect, apart from its effect on the public generally or a significant portion thereof, on a recent major campaign contributor.”

    This project also shows why complicated financing schemes like tax increment financing need to be eliminated. Government intervention schemes like this turn the usual economic incentives upside down, and at taxpayer expense.

  • In Wichita, Southfork TIF is politics, and therefore should be rejected

    Last month the Wichita City Council approved the formation of a TIF district in south Wichita. Known as the Southfork TIF District, the developer is Wichitan Jay Maxwell. This week the matter will appear before the Sedgwick County Commission, as it may, under law, decide to veto the formation of the district.

    Maxwell himself rarely appears at meetings of governmental agencies, sending his agent Tim Austin of Poe & Associates, Inc. instead.

    The role of politics

    Maxwell and Austin have some queer ideas regarding the nature of markets and politics. In an email message to supporters of the Southfork TIF, Austin wrote: “There are many underlying political winds working against the Southfork TIF.” In another email message, he wrote: “As I mentioned previously, there are underlying political interests at play that appear to be making this a political matter as opposed to a vote the merits of the TIF, the project, and South Wichita.”

    Austin has it exactly backwards. It is he who is arguing for using the political process to enrich himself and Maxwell. Those such as myself and Americans for Prosperity who oppose government interventions such as this are arguing against using the political process — against making this a political matter, that is.

    The supporters of government intervention such as TIF often make claims of “market failure.” They claim that the free market system has failed to deliver what they want, so they make appeals to government to intervene. This, of course, moves society away from markets and civil society and toward the politics that Austin seems to disdain.

    In reality, markets do quite well in allocating the resources of our economy, despite the claims of many, including historians who should know better. There are those who may feel they’re not getting everything they deserve through the market process, but that’s no reason to introduce the tremendous inefficiencies and distortions that the political process brings with it. In his book How Capitalism Saved America: The Untold History of Our Country, From the Pilgrims to the Present, Thomas J. DiLorenzo explained:

    Most historians also uncritically repeat the claim that government subsidies were necessary to building America’s transcontinental railroad industry, steamship industry, steel industry, and other industries. But while clinging to this “market failure” argument, they ignore (or at least are unaware of) the fact that market entrepreneurs performed quite well without government subsidies. They also ignore the fact that the subsidies themselves were a great source of inefficiency and business failure, even though they enriched the direct recipients of the subsidies and advanced the political careers of those who dished them out.

    Political entrepreneurs and their governmental patrons are the real villains of American business history and should be portrayed as such. They are the real robber barons.

    The idea of “market failure” is used by the promoters of this TIF district — as do supporters of TIF districts. They claim that only government — that is, politics — can make things right, at least according to their vision.

    The idea that there are two classes of entrepreneurs — market and political — is explained by Helen Cochran in her book review of The Myth of the Robber Barons: A New Look at the Rise of Big Business in America by Burton Folsom. Cochran wrote:

    According to Folsom, “political entrepreneurs” are those that seek government/taxpayer subsidy, public private partnerships, protective tariffs, special privileges, etc. Folsom makes a sound case that economic development fueled by political intervention invariably fails and undermines the very ideology it purports to serve.

    On the other hand “market entrepreneurs” are those that obtain their successes by producing a product that is better and of more value to the consumer, unbridled by the government controls and restrictions that come with subsidy. No one can argue that it is the market entrepreneurs that create the wealth in this country.

    The essence of political entrepreneurship is that Austin and Maxwell find it easier to convince a majority of the Wichita City Council, and now the Sedgwick County Commission, of the superiority of their plans than it is to convince others through the market process. They want to replace the collective knowledge of free people trading voluntarily in markets with the political process — that is, with the judgments of bureaucrats and politicians.

    Do TIF districts work?

    In deciding whether TIF districts “work” we must come to an agreement of what “work” means. Generally, most supporters of TIF — besides the obvious motivations of the developers who are directly enriched by them — claim increased development and jobs.

    But there’s plenty of evidence to the contrary.

    As far as increased development: Yes, that generally happens within the TIF district. But what about the overall city? The answer is that TIF is harmful.

    Regarding the effect of tax increment financing (TIF) districts on economic development, economists Richard F. Dye and David F. Merriman have studied the issue extensively. Their paper The Effects of Tax Increment Financing on Economic Development bluntly states the overall impact of TIF: “We find clear and consistent evidence that municipalities that adopt TIF grow more slowly after adoption than those that do not.”

    Later in the same paper the authors conclude: “These findings suggest that TIF trades off higher growth in the TIF district for lower growth elsewhere. This hypothesis is bolstered by other empirical findings.” More on their work is at Tax increment financing (TIF) and economic growth.

    Others may support TIF for its purported positive impact on employment. Sure, it’s easy to drive by a TIF district and see people at work. But that doesn’t tell the whole story.

    One person who looked at the effect of TIF on employment in the entire city is economist Paul F. Byrne. He concluded this: “Results find no general impact of TIF use on employment. However, findings suggest that TIF districts supporting industrial development may have a positive effect on municipal employment, whereas TIF districts supporting retail development have a negative effect on municipal employment.”

    More on his work is at Does tax increment financing (TIF) deliver on its promise of jobs?

    So considering the high-minded goals of politicians and bureaucrats, we must conclude that TIF does not meet the goals of increased development and/or jobs, if we consider the impact on everyone. What we’re left with is the well-known problem that public choice economics — the economics of politics — has described: Concentrated benefits and dispersed costs. It’s the reason why those who seek enrichment at Wichita City Hall and other governments make so many political campaign contributions.

    This particular TIF district

    In a document prepared for Sedgwick County Commissioners by the county’s Finance Division, this TIF district is analyzed.

    One startling conclusion: “The Southfork area qualifies for TIF funding because most of the land is in a flood plain, and while action is being taken to reduce the magnitude of this problem most of the land will remain in a flood plain after those actions are completed.” (emphasis added)

    In other words, one of the “noble” actions of the developer — fixing a flooded area — is exposed for what it is.

    Another conclusion of the analysis is that the “Proposed project is economically feasible without county funding support.” In other words, the TIF district is not financially necessary.

    Then: “Proposed private equity funding is insufficient to effect default risk.”

    Finally: “Costs to county government are greater than benefits to county government. If, as appears possible based on the financial projections provided for county review, the project is financially feasible without TIF funding, then a substantial cost to county government is the property tax revenue diverted unnecessarily to the project.”

    This directly contradicts the claims that most TIF supporters make: That TIF is without cost. Randal O’Toole and others have shown the many ways in which TIF does have a great cost. His essay “TIF is not free money” may be read as part of my article Tax increment financing: TIF has a cost.

    This particular applicant

    We also need to look at the characteristics of this applicant. The Wichita Business Journal reported this regarding a company Mr. Maxwell owned:

    Pixius proposes to repay, over a 10-year period, $1.3 million of a $6.4 million loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service, according to court documents. The loan was part of a 2002 Farm Bill pilot program that loaned more than $180 million to ISPs to expand Internet service to rural areas.

    “To my memory … Pixius is the only one (to receive a loan) that’s had to file bankruptcy to work out of its situation,” says Claiborn Crain, USDA spokesman.

    When the government helped out Maxwell in the past, it cost taxpayers $5.1 million. His company is set apart from other similar companies in that, according to the USDA spokesman, only Maxwell’s declared bankruptcy.

    I suggest that Maxwell has had his turn at the government funding trough. Taxpayers can’t afford to give him another.

  • Tax increment financing (TIF) and economic growth

    Regarding the effect of tax increment financing (TIF) districts on economic development, economists Richard F. Dye and David F. Merriman have studied tax increment financing extensively. Their paper The Effects of Tax Increment Financing on Economic Development bluntly states the overall impact of TIF: “We find clear and consistent evidence that municipalities that adopt TIF grow more slowly after adoption than those that do not.”

    Later in the same paper the authors conclude: “These findings suggest that TIF trades off higher growth in the TIF district for lower growth elsewhere. This hypothesis is bolstered by other empirical findings.”

    Summarizing, the authors write:

    In summary, the empirical evidence suggests that TIF adoption has a real cost for municipal growth rates. Municipalities that elect to adopt TIF stimulate the growth of blighted areas at the expense of the larger town. We doubt that most municipal decision-makers are aware of this tradeoff or that they would willingly sacrifice significant municipal growth to create TIF districts. Our results present an opportunity to ponder the issue of whether, and how much, overall municipal growth should be sacrificed to encourage the development of blighted areas.

    In their later article Tax Increment Financing: A Tool for Local Economic Development, Dye and Merriman further explain the results of their research:

    TIF districts grow much faster than other areas in their host municipalities. TIF boosters or naive analysts might point to this as evidence of the success of tax increment financing, but they would be wrong. Observing high growth in an area targeted for development is unremarkable.

    So TIFs are good for the favored development that receives the subsidy — not a surprising finding. It’s what elected officials, bureaucrats, and newspaper editorial writers can see and focus on. But what about the rest of the city? Continuing from the same study:

    If the use of tax increment financing stimulates economic development, there should be a positive relationship between TIF adoption and overall growth in municipalities. This did not occur. If, on the other hand, TIF merely moves capital around within a municipality, there should be no relationship between TIF adoption and growth. What we find, however, is a negative relationship. Municipalities that use TIF do worse.

    We find evidence that the non-TIF areas of municipalities that use TIF grow no more rapidly, and perhaps more slowly, than similar municipalities that do not use TIF. (emphasis added)

    So if we are concerned about overall growth in Wichita, we need to realize that TIF simply shifts development from one place to another. The overall impact, according to uncontroverted research, is negative: less growth, not more.

  • Does tax increment financing (TIF) deliver on its promise of jobs?

    When justifying the use of tax increment financing (TIF districts) elected officials, bureaucrats, and newspaper editorial writers often point to the jobs that will be created. Indeed, when a TIF district is created, economic activity usually happens within the district, and it’s easy to observe people working at jobs.

    But when deciding whether TIF is a wise economic development policy, we need to look beyond the boundaries of the TIF district and look at the effect on the entire economy of the city or region.

    One person who has done this is Paul F. Byrne of Washburn University. He authored a recent report titled Does Tax Increment Financing Deliver on Its Promise of Jobs? The Impact of Tax Increment Financing on Municipal Employment Growth. In its abstract we find this conclusion regarding the impact of TIF on jobs:

    Increasingly, municipal leaders justify their use of tax increment financing (TIF) by touting its role in improving municipal employment. However, empirical studies on TIF have primarily examined TIF’s impact on property values, ignoring the claim that serves as the primary justification for its use. This article addresses the claim by examining the impact of TIF adoption on municipal employment growth in Illinois, looking for both general impact and impact specific to the type of development supported. Results find no general impact of TIF use on employment. However, findings suggest that TIF districts supporting industrial development may have a positive effect on municipal employment, whereas TIF districts supporting retail development have a negative effect on municipal employment. These results are consistent with industrial TIF districts capturing employment that would have otherwise occurred outside of the adopting municipality and retail TIF districts shifting employment within the municipality to more labor-efficient retailers within the TIF district. (emphasis added)

    While this research might be used to support a TIF district for industrial development, TIF in Wichita is primarily used for retail development. When looking at the entire picture, the effect on employment of tax increment financing used for retail development is negative.

  • Kansas and Wichita quick takes: Friday December 30, 2011

    Year in review, Wichita Liberty-style. Here it is: A selection of stories that appeared on Voice for Liberty in 2011. Was it a good or bad year for the causes of economic freedom, individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and civil society?

    Patriots New Years Eve. Larry Halloran of Wichita — South Central KS 912 Group is sponsoring for the second time a “Patriots New Years Eve”: Taking time to relax in the company of Patriots as we dedicate ourselves to the important work ahead in 2012. This event is New Year’s Eve from 6:00 pm to 11:00 pm at the Hawthorn Suites located at 2405 N. Ridge Road, Wichita, KS 67205, telephone (316) 729-5700. The potluck dinner starts just after 6:00 pm, followed by guest speaker Bob Weeks at 8:00 pm. This is a family-friendly event, and no alcohol is served or allowed. Despite that, I still plan to attend. RSVP to LarryHalloran@aol.com.

    Legislators to hear from citizens. The South-Central Kansas Legislative Delegation will be taking public comments Tuesday January 3rd at 7:00 pm in the Jury Room of the Sedgwick County Courthouse, 525 N. Main in Wichita. (Use the north entrance to the courthouse). This is your opportunity to let local legislators know your wishes on issues that will be considered during the 2012 legislative session. In the past, each person wishing to talk has been limited to between three and five minutes depending on the number of people wishing to speak. There is usually the requirement to sign up as you enter if you want to speak.

    California’s redevelopment nightmare to end. In Kansas, they’re called tax increment financing districts, and in California, they’re about to end. A press release from the Institute of Justice notes: “In a landmark victory for private property owners in the Golden State, the California Supreme Court today upheld a statute abolishing the nearly 400 redevelopment agencies across the state. The court also struck down a law that would have allowed these agencies to buy their way back into existence. The final outcome of the case is that, in 2012, California’s decades-long redevelopment nightmare will finally come to an end. California redevelopment agencies have been some of the worst abusers of eminent domain for decades, violating the private property rights of tens of thousands of home, business, church and farm owners.” Besides eminent domain abuse, the high cost of the redevelopment agencies was a factor, with 12 percent of California property taxes being diverted to what are know as TIF districts in Kansas. … The City of Wichita still views tax increment financing as a wise investment, with one such district authorized for creation this month.

    Growth will heal nation’s economy. From Kansas Watchdog: While most economists are predicting something between a long, slow recovery and the impossibility of repairing an economy buried in debt, entrepreneur Louis Woodhill believes the U.S. can come roaring back in just one or two years — with the right actions. “We probably need 25 million new jobs to get to full employment from here,” he said. “But basically it could be done in a year or two at the outside if you did everything right.” His recovery formula focuses on growing the gross domestic product. “If Vince Lombardy had been an economist instead of a football coach, he would have said economic growth is not the most important thing, it’s the only thing,” Woodhill said. … The full story is at Louis Woodhill: Prescription for Growth Will Heal Nation’s Economy.

    Assumptions about capitalism. Burton W. Folsom in The Myth of the Robber Barons: “This shallow conclusion dovetails with another set of assumptions: First, that the free market, with its economic uncertainty, competitive stress, and constant potential for failure, needs the steadying hand of government regulation; second, that businessmen tend to be unscrupulous, reflecting the classic cliché image of the ‘robber baron,’ eager to seize any opportunity to steal from the public; and third, that because government can mobilize a wide array of forces across the political and business landscape, government programs therefore can move the economy more effectively than can the varied and often conflicting efforts of private enterprise. But the closer we look at public-sector economic initiatives, the more difficult it becomes to defend government as a wellspring of progress. Indeed, an honest examination of our economic history — going back long before the twentieth century — reveals that, more often than not, when government programs and individual enterprise have gone head to head, the private sector has achieved more progress at less cost with greater benefit to consumers and the economy at large.” … Folsom goes on to give examples from the history of steamships, railroads, and the steel and oil industries that show how our true economic history has been distorted. Concluding, he writes: “Time and again, experience has shown that while private enterprise, carried on in an environment of open competition, delivers the best products and services at the best price, government intervention stifles initiative, subsidizes inefficiency, and raises costs. But if we have difficulty learning from history, it is often because our true economic history is largely hidden from us. We would be hard pressed to find anything about Vanderbilt’s success or Collins’s government-backed failure in the steamship business by examining the conventional history textbooks or taking a history course at most colleges or universities. The information simply isn’t included.” … Folsom’s book on this topic is The Myth of the Robber Barons: A New Look at the Rise of Big Business in America.

    Resources on Austrian economics. The prolific and best-selling author Thomas E. Woods, Jr. has compiled a very useful collection of resources regarding Austrian economics. In an essay by Lew Rockwell that Woods refers to, we can learn the essence of the Austrian way: “It is not a field within economics, but an alternative way of looking at the entire science. Whereas other schools rely primarily on idealized mathematical models of the economy, and suggest ways the government can make the world conform, Austrian theory is more realistic and thus more socially scientific. Austrians view economics as a tool for understanding how people both cooperate and compete in the process of meeting needs, allocating resources, and discovering ways of building a prosperous social order. Austrians view entrepreneurship as a critical force in economic development, private property as essential to an efficient use of resources, and government intervention in the market process as always and everywhere destructive.” Concluding his essay, Rockwell wrote: “The future of Austrian economics is bright, which bodes well for the future of liberty itself. For if we are to reverse the trends of statism in this century, and reestablish a free market, the intellectual foundation must be the Austrian School.” … Woods’ collection is at Learn Austrian Economics.

    Cato University. One of the highlights of my year was attending Cato University, a summer seminar on political economy. Besides attending many very informative lectures and meeting lovers of liberty from across the world, I became aware of several brilliant Cato scholars and executives whom I had not paid much attention to. One in particular is Tom G. Palmer, who is Senior Fellow and Director of Cato University, besides holding the position of Vice President for International Programs at Atlas Economic Research Foundation. He delivered many of our lectures and is the author of Realizing Freedom: Libertarian Theory, History, and Practice. An important chapter from this book is Twenty Myths about Markets. In this video he discusses being effective in bringing about change.

  • Kansas and Wichita quick takes: Wednesday December 7, 2011

    Wichita petitions. At yesterday’s meeting of the Wichita City Council, the invocation featured a Bible verse that contained the phrase “Petitions, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be offered for those in authority.” I don’t think the speaker was aware of the irony, since petitions were delivered to city hall just the day before. These petitions seek to overturn an action of the city council, and city leaders are not pleased that citizens took to the streets to gather signatures in opposition to the council’s action.

    Petitions being contested. Speaking of petitions, the developers of the Ambassador Hotel are calling those who signed the petition and asking them to rescind their signature. The signers are being read a script that claims a study by Wichita State University indicates that 978 jobs will be created by the project. At the time the hotel developers persuaded the Wichita City Council and other governmental units to grant them over $15 million in taxpayer subsidy, they claimed the project would create 100 to 120 jobs. More reporting by Bill Wilson of the Wichita Eagle at Clash over hotel incentives heating up. … Work started and continues on the hotel even though the subsidy targeted by the petition is in doubt, so it appears the hotel will open — and jobs be created — no matter what happens to the petition.

    AFP statement on peitition. “Activists with Americans for Prosperity and many other local organizations are firmly engaged in the public process, acting on our right to ask for a public vote on how our city doles out tax dollars to private interests,” said Susan Estes, AFP-Kansas grassroots coordinator and Wichita resident. “Certainly the opposition in this matter is acting on its right to fight our efforts. “However, from what we have heard from some of the recipients of recent phone calls, the actions of our opposition seem desperate, insulting and even intimidating to some. We find it interesting that an entity so concerned about receiving public incentives is so against allowing the public to vote on one portion of the approved incentive package. Great lengths are being taken — and at great expense — to prevent Wichitans from voting, even going so far as to have individuals from Colorado calling petition signers to sway their opinion about a Wichita issue.” … “The signature gathering process has simply been about one thing: providing the people of Wichita an opportunity to express support or opposition to this type of public tax policy. A campaign would allow both proponents and opponents to share their message with the people of Wichita. We believe his would be a healthy debate for our community. One that is needed, one that we hoped would be embraced by all. We are not afraid of this public debate, but apparently some are.”

    Smart Taxpayers Exposing Waste. An initiative of the American Beverage Association is exposing ways in which government is spending money to run attack ads on the beverage industry. The claim is that $230 million of federal stimulus money has been spent in this way. The Facebook page, located at Smart Taxpayers Exposing Waste (STEW), holds many examples.

    Planning grant to be topic of meeting. On Monday December 12th Americans for Prosperity Foundation will feature Sedgwick County Commission Member Richard Ranzau speaking on the topic “The $1.5 million dollar Regional Economic Area Partnership (REAP) HUD Sustainable Development Planning Grant: Economic Development or Economic Destruction?” Some background on this item may be found at Sedgwick County considers a planning grant. This free event is from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm at the Lionel D. Alford Library located at 3447 S. Meridian in Wichita. The library is just north of the I-235 exit on Meridian. For more information on this event contact John Todd at john@johntodd.net or 316-312-7335, or Susan Estes, AFP Field Director at sestes@afphq.org or 316-681-4415.

    Kansas history writer to speak. This Friday (December 9th) the Wichita Pachyderm Club features Beccy Tanner, Kansas history writer and reporter for The Wichita Eagle, speaking on “The Kansas Sesquicentennial (150th) Anniversary.” The public is welcome and encouraged to attend Wichita Pachyderm meetings. For more information click on Wichita Pachyderm Club. … Upcoming speakers: On December 16: Kansas Senator Garrett Love. The youthful legislator, just completing his first year in office, will be speaking on “Young people in politics.” … On December 23 there will be no meeting. The status of the December 30th meeting is undetermined at this time. … On January 6: David Kensinger, Chief of Staff to Kansas Governor Sam Brownback. … On January 13: Speaker of the Kansas House of Representatives Mike O’Neal, speaking on “The untold school finance story.” … On January 20: Sedgwick County Commissioner Karl Peterjohn.

    Wichita City Council. Some video from this week’s meeting of the Wichita City Council. First, my discussion of tax increment financing (TIF) districts. Then, click here for Clinton Coen and Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer’s discussion. Under the mayor’s leadership, things disintegrate. Finally, former council member Jim Skelton returns to Wichita city council chambers.

  • Wichita should reject tax increment financing

    Remarks delivered to the Wichita City Council, December 6, 2011, regarding the formation of a new tax increment financing (TIF) district in south Wichita. The measure passed with all members except Michael O’Donnell (district 4, south and southwest Wichita) voting in favor of creating the TIF district.

    Mayor, members of the council,

    No matter how much spin is put on this by its supporters and this council, TIF turns over taxation to private interests. To the extent we must have taxation, it should be for public purposes, to pay for things that everyone benefits from.

    What this council is considering today is turning over this public function to the benefit of one person. Some on this council believe that TIF is not really a benefit to the applicant, as they are going to pay property taxes in any case.

    That’s true — so far. But to properly represent the interests of this city, we need to look farther. We need to look at “stage two,” or “what happens next.” And when we look, we see that under TIF, the vast majority of the taxes paid are redirected away from the public treasury and back to one person’s interest.

    Some will bring up the “but-for” argument, which is to say that none of this will happen unless the TIF district is created. It’s easy to create scenarios that show government assistance is necessary. But we’ve seen examples lately where applicants stood before this council and told you that they must have some form of assistance, that it is impossible to proceed without it. But after being denied assistance, the projects proceeded. In fact, the current applicant made such a claim to this council regarding special property tax treatment through industrial revenue bonds. This council declined to offer the assistance, but the project moved ahead anyway.

    Now if TIF provided a benefit, that would be one thing. But compelling research that no one on this council has controverted tells us two things.

    First, one study concludes this: “We find evidence that the non-TIF areas of municipalities that use TIF grow no more rapidly, and perhaps more slowly, than similar municipalities that do not use TIF.” So if we are concerned about the level of development in the entire city, we should reject TIF.

    Second, another tells of the impact of retail TIF districts on jobs. “TIF districts supporting retail development have a negative effect on municipal employment.” So if we are concerned about jobs for everyone, we should reject retail TIF districts.

    We might also look to a state that is perhaps the leader in the application of TIF, although they’re called redevelopment districts there: California Governor Jerry Brown is working to eliminate the use of TIF districts and close down those that exist. His reason: The state can’t afford them.

    We also need to look at the characteristics of this applicant. The Wichita Business Journal reported this regarding a company Mr. Maxwell owned: “Pixius proposes to repay, over a 10-year period, $1.3 million of a $6.4 million loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service, according to court documents. The loan was part of a 2002 Farm Bill pilot program that loaned more than $180 million to ISPs to expand Internet service to rural areas. ‘To my memory … Pixius is the only one (to receive a loan) that’s had to file bankruptcy to work out of its situation,’ says Claiborn Crain, USDA spokesman.”

    I would also note that at least one member of this council has accepted campaign contributions from Mr. Maxwell and his wife. Some jurisdictions have “pay-to-play” laws, which prohibit officeholders who have accepted campaign contributions from voting on measures that would enrich the contributor. We don’t have these laws in Wichita, although I hope that we will. But there’s no reason that this council can’t act as through such laws are in place.

  • Crony capitalism and social engineering: The case against tax-increment financing

    A report published earlier this year by urban planning expert Randal O’Toole of the Cato Institute gives a good overview of tax increment financing (TIF) districts and the harm they cause. O’Toole discusses the research that shows that TIF has an overall negative effect on communities that use it. He also addresses the issue of crony capitalism, which is well documented in Wichita, with TIF developers handing out a continuous stream of campaign contributions to those politicians who vote their way. Following is the executive summary of O’Toole’s report, followed by a link to the full document.

    Tax-increment financing (TIF) is an increasingly popular way for cities to promote economic development. TIF works by allowing cities to use the property, sales, and other taxes collected from new developments — taxes that would otherwise go to schools, libraries, fire departments, and other urban services — to subsidize those same developments.

    While cities often claim that TIF is “free money” because it represents the taxes collected from developments that might not have taken place without the subsidy, there is plenty of evidence that this is not true. First, several studies have found that the developments subsidized by TIF would have happened anyway in the same urban area, though not necessarily the same location. Second, new developments impose costs on schools, fire departments, and other urban services, so other taxpayers must either pay more to cover those costs or accept a lower level of services as services are spread to developments that are not paying for them.

    Moreover, rather than promoting economic development, many if not most TIF subsidies are used for entirely different purposes. First, many states give cities enormous discretion for how they use TIF funds, turning TIF into a way for cities to capture taxes that would otherwise go to rival tax entities such as school or library districts. Second, no matter how well-intentioned, city officials will always be tempted to use TIF as a vehicle for crony capitalism, providing subsidies to developers who in turn provide campaign funds to politicians.

    Finally, many cities use TIF to persuade developers to build “new-urban” (high-density, mixed-use) developments that are supposedly greener than traditional designs but are less marketable than low-density suburbs. Albuquerque, Denver, Portland, and other cities have each spent hundreds of millions of dollars supporting such developments when developers would have been happy to build low-density developments without any subsidies.

    TIF takes money from schools, fire departments, libraries, and other urban services funded by property taxes. By eliminating TIF, state legislatures can help close current budget gaps and prevent cities from taking even more money from these urban services in the future.

    The entire report is available at the Cato Institute at Crony Capitalism and Social Engineering: The Case against Tax-Increment Financing.