Archive for the ‘PILOTS’ Category
Another Pilot Approval In The Works
Sunday, March 17th, 2013March 18, 2013
There is another Pilot approval in the works. This time it is for TJX Companies, Inc. The EDGE board (Economic Development Growth Engine for Memphis and Shelby County) will meet next Wednesday (March 20th) at 3 PM at Memphis Bioworks, 20 S. Dudley.
As usual, EDGE calculated that the return will be $1.23 dollars of return for each dollar of taxes abated. In October 2012, Mr. Dulberger and others appeared on the WKNO show (Behind The Headlines http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-kcnmFdLLM). During the show he said that past Pilots returned $1.87 for each one dollar of tax abatement. I have yet to see a Pilot application that did not claim to return more in the future for taxes abated now. Yet when you look at the financial crisis we have locally, particularly at the City, you have to ask “Where is the beef?. If the Pilots granted returned what they promised, we should be rolling in a flood of green.
The Memphis Czar
Monday, December 17th, 2012December 17, 2012
I went to a Community Redevelopment Agency meeting recently at City Hall and about 50 members of the public were present prepared to discuss and protest the Heritage Trails redevelopment proposal put forth by Robert Lipscomb. He failed to show up. You ask yourself, who is Robert Lipscomb? Good question.
Pilots_What Are The Facts?
Sunday, September 30th, 2012October 1, 2012
Last Thursday I participated in a filming of a WKNO program called “Behind the Headlines”. It was led by Eric Barnes, Publisher of the Memphis Daily News. Also participating was Reid Dulberger, new head of EDGE (Economic Development Growth Engine) and two great reporters for the paper, Andy Meek and Bill Dries. The program will be shown at 7 PM on Friday October 5th and will also be (more…)
We Tote The Note
Tuesday, September 4th, 2012September 4, 2012
For years as I drove home from work, I passed a used car lot on Lamar that had a sign that said “We Tote The Note”.
Recently I asked the City and the County for information on property taxes for the fiscal year 2011 to see who totes the note locally. I wanted to know how much is paid by residential versus commercial, industrial, farm, exempt, multi and personalty.
How Much Do Residential Taxpayers Pay Versus All Others?
Thursday, August 16th, 2012August 16, 2012
As I was looking at my City property tax bill due at the end of August, I ask myself the question “What is residential property tax total as a percentage of the total property tax?”.
You would think that this is a question that could be easily found online. So I went to the City of Memphis, Shelby County and the Shelby County Trustee for the answer. As of right now only the Trustee answered and I thank him and his staff for the outstanding job that they do and their (more…)
What Is The Personalty Tax?
Thursday, August 9th, 2012August 9, 2012
The Personalty tax is a tax on Personal Property, tangible and intangible, used, or held for use, in a business. Businesses include Partnerships, Corporations, other business associations not issuing stock and individuals operating for profit as a business or profession in Shelby County Tennessee.
There are 10 groups of Tangible Personal Property:Group 1 Furniture, Fixtures, General Equipment, and all other Property not listed in any other Group. Group 2 Computers, Copiers, Fax Machines, Peripherals, and Small tools. Group 3 Molds, Dies, and Jigs. Group 4 Aircraft, Towers, and Boats. Group 5 Manufacturing Machinery. Group 6 Billboards, Tanks, and Pipelines. Group Scrap Properties. Group 8 Raw Materials and Supplies. Group 9 Vehicles. Group 10 Construction-in-Process.
This group of property is taxed the same as real estate and those paying are responsible for reporting their value. It does not matter whether they are (more…)
And The Winner Is?
Monday, August 6th, 2012
August 6, 2012
With the Olympics going on I decided to find out the winners in the LONGEST PILOT CONTRACTS CONTEST. I went to the latest County Trustee’s Annual Report and listed the longest lasting tax abatement contracts. Here is what I found.
Owner Location Length of Contract
Court Square Partnership 128-130 N. Court 40 years
Cotton Ex Bldg 65 Union 40 years
123 S Court LLC 855 Ridge Lake Blvd 40 years
Winchester Bldg LLC 179 Madison Ave 40 years
Main Monroe Partners LP 110 Monroe 40 years
Sanderlin Place 80 Monroe-20 S Front 40 years
Three Sisters Ltd 81 S Front 76-88 Union 40 years
Wesley at Millington Inc 7917 Cole 40 years
Peabody Place-Gold LP 123-135-137 S Main 40 years
Peabody Place-Hav lp 151 S Main 40 years
Hotel Peabody LTD 149 Union & 122 Second 40 years
Peabody Pl Htl Hampton Inn 0 Third 40 years
Knickerbocker Properties 0 Mud Island 40 years
These all get a gold medal. There are many others from 20 and 30 Plus years. Check it out for yourself. Most of these are downtown properties.
Finishing dead last, as usual, is the shrinking, depleted and aging team, MemphisTaxpayers.
Are Pilot tax abatements really $75 million plus rather than $48 million?
Thursday, August 2nd, 2012August 2, 2012
Home owners (property tax payers) are carrying the bulk of the local tax burden. We have heard reports of the PILOT program (payment in lieu of taxes) which gives local companies tax abatements for a period of time. We have heard that this runs up to $48 million dollars per year. At the end of the PILOT contract period they are supposed to go back on the tax rolls (City and County) at the full amount of the tax abatement.
This piqued my interest so I decided to investigate the PILOT subject and the amount of the tax abatement. I found out from the County Trustee that the $48 million dollar annual tax abatement reported in his annual Pilot report was only for the County and does not include the City Pilot abatement. This (more…)
Stockton California
Tuesday, June 26th, 2012June 26, 2012
Stockton California is set to declare bankruptcy. What can Memphis learn from this profligate city? Stockton is a city of 300,000 in northern California. Stockton got caught in a morass of debt because of high retiree costs for
Investigation of PILOTS
Thursday, June 21st, 2012June 21, 2012
I have been investigating past PILOTS (the payment in lieu of tax program) and trying to follow up on past ending dates to see if when the PILOT ended, did the City and the County get the promised higher taxes. This has proved to be very difficult to gather this information and it should be the subject of a public report run hopefully by the County Trustee’s office. But I will give it a shot. I (more…)