THE GUARDIAN has obtained a spreadsheet list of taxing districts and the amounts of property taxes diverted to Caldwell East Urban Renewal via a public records request. Below is a list and the money CEURA gets from each one to arrive at $5,557,907 for 2011:
TAXING DISTRICT PROPERTY TAXES TO CEURA
County pest control $225
Ambulance District $68,517
Mosquito Abatement District $33,035
City of Caldwell $2,946,364
Notus-Parma Hwy Dist. #2 $150
Canyon Hwy. Dist. #4 $459,933
Caldwell Rural Fire Dist. $5,261
Caldwell School Dist. #132 $359,699
Vallivue School Dist. #139 $278,732
College of Western Idaho $445,587
Flood Control Dist. #11 $577
Canyon County $1,359,826
Total $5,557,907
This is how the "Magic of Urban Renewal" works but not well understood by most taxpayers. URA's simply tax the taxing districts and spend the money via the "wide powers" granted to them by the Idaho Legislature. Meanwhile, all of the above taxing districts have to make up what has been siphoned off by URA's in the form of increases in levy rates but a nasty thing called the CAP on taxes hit just about all of them this year and they can't raise the levy rates.
You know, if the county feel like they are owed $10.4 million from urban renewal in Caldwell, then perhaps the school districts should go back and ask for all the deferrals of their property tax as well. Then perhaps we would not be needing a bond election to fund schools.
ReplyDeleteButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid had to get up pretty early in the morning to rob the Union Pacific Flyer of a sack full of money, but they look like novices compared to Tom Dale and Garret Nancolas wielding their Urban Renewal pitoles. As all of this has unfolded it seems incredible that our legislature has not corrected this and the courts have not ruled against it, and more cases have not been brought. I guess the the slogan steal a dollar they toss you in jail, steal a million they make you king prevails here, all the while the electorate has better things to do, like trim and polish their fingernails or whatever.
ReplyDeleteBummed's comment above made me think about my own attitude toward Caldwell's problems. For a couple years now I have tried to understand and get accurate information about Urban Renewal and other growth issues affecting Caldwell and try to find something I could do to help. A cursory view shows Caldwell to be the deadest major community in SW Idaho now, even after an absolutely stellar growth rate of 78.1% from 2000 to 2010. Marketing Caldwell like a "classic" used appliance does not seem to resonate but still seems to have enough support to get the head "used appliance salesman" reelected. I personally have only one transient "dog" in this fight and when this is properly dispatched can not find any reason to try and proactively help in a community that does not seem to help itself.
ReplyDeleteWhat is even worse is they commissioned a study by Dave Leland for $140K for guidance. They have tossed it in the filing cabinet and chose to ignore this as well as the RUDAT study from the 1980's.
DeleteMayor Nancolas is now scheming to try and hand over hole #3 to some Doc's at West Valley Hospital. Mr. Nancolas has managed to destroy Caldwell's economic potential and turned it into a bedroom community for Boise/Meridian employers.
His uses and abuses of urban renewal to create an economic base and revenue generator for Caldwell are an unqualified failure. He has marginalized anyone trying to help him with the issues and challenges facing Caldwell if they don't agree with his line of thinking in all things.
I simply do not understand why there is not outrage over this. The newspapers simply don't care or are in on the deal.
ReplyDeleteWow--nearly 3 million out of the city of Caldwell budget. I wonder if the firefighters are paying attention
ReplyDeleteThe total amount of property taxes diverted to CEURA will approach $78,000,000 when the agency sunsets but some of their bonding debts will continue to 2022 before they are paid off.
ReplyDeleteMayor Nancolas has called all the taxpayer cash spent by CEURA "The Magic of Urban Renewal" and calls all the property tax dollars sent to CEURA "no cost to taxpayers".
It is time for Idaho to follow what has happened in California and it gets repealed, the agencies shut down with a caretaker to administer outstanding debt repayments to bond holders.
The Legislature is like tobacco companies in this matter. They all know it is a scam and it is not sustainable but they want to lose this game slowly. Changes to the UR laws in Idaho last year have done nothing to stop all the waste, fraud and abuse legally allowed by existing URA's
Got an idea here. Urban renewal is corporate government, corporate government leads to corruption, corruption leads to criminal intent, and criminal intent leads to crime. What needs to happen is, is that the county prosecuting attorneys in these urban renewal districts need to start looking for the crimes that may be happening in some of these urban renewal projects, and start prosecuting the crimes that are being committed. Maybe then the State will have a good reason to repeal the law.
ReplyDelete