Dear Editor:
This Tuesday our city council is considering spending over $2.4 million for less than one acre of land in downtown, (includes the old Comet Cleaners), that is on the tax rolls for $584,880. To add insult to injury, the item is listed on the consent agenda, indicating to me that some on council do not even want to discuss the issue before the vote. Why are we paying ribeye steak prices for hamburger meat property during a time of fiscal and economic crisis? Our city council just opted to utilize the maximum property tax increases allowed by law to increase our property tax payments and now want to spend this exorbitant amount of money on a bus parking lot and an old dry cleaners which is plagued by environmental issues that place an unlimited liability on the city for remediation? I would say that we, the taxpayers of this city, are literally being taken to the cleaners on this deal and it feels like yet another sweetheart deal for someone or a very select few with influence at City Hall.
I am a resident of downtown and an active investor in downtown commercial real estate for the past 12 years. I own a real estate brokerage and property tax consulting firm specializing in commercial real estate, so I am speaking as someone who has an in-depth experience in this specific market.
