Other than articles printed in local
daily and weekly newspapers one sees precious little in letters to the editor
from local residents about important projects being considered by New Britain.
I guess many of these people prefer the anonymity of the blogs where they can
indulge in name calling, profanity and nonsensical comments, with impunity.
This letter makes just a few comments about one proposed New Britain project,
the possible coming to the city of the membership type retail giant, COSTCO.
While some blog commenters and even
some City officials have concentrated on what they consider negative aspects of
the proposal, few have seen and spoken in favor of the possible economic
benefits to the City. E.g.: the addition of 220 jobs to this area, good jobs
with benefits, averaging better than minimum wage; much needed tax revenues for
the City - yes, less than originally mentioned but additional monies that the
City does not have now. The benefits are many to the greater number of
taxpayers while the negatives are few.
On the issue of property taxes: it
is patently obvious that some commenters confuse the issues of abatement of taxes
and waiving of taxes. Because of cost overruns resulting from unforeseen
circumstances, Costco has requested tax abatement from New
Britain, NOT tax waiving! Tax abatement means reducing the amount
of taxes, payments made over a short period of time - seven years in this case
. Taxes will be paid, all new revenues. Waiving
taxes means forgiving them, perhaps in perpetuity. The city gets nothing,
forever!
EXAMPLE. During the last months of
the O’Brien Administration, the Common Council (then, 13 Democrats and 2
Republicans), at the request of Mayor Tim O’Brien, PROUDLY waived the property
taxes of The Hunan Resources Agency (HRA) of New Britain on Clinton
St. Potentially, over $20 million dollars over just 20 years. Nine
(9) of those Democrats still serve on the Council today. Commenting on the
Costco proposal in a local newspaper today, Alderman David DeFronzo said,
“ . Council member David DeFronzo, who has opposed
the project from the start, said tax incentives would make it even less
attractive.” It was OK though to waive HRA
taxes! In The Fall of 2013, when writing profiles of candidates running in the
municipal election, Herald writer Robert Storace quoted Alderman
DeFronzo as saying that he (DeFronzo) strongly supported O’Brien’s budget. Go figure.
Lou Salvio, Alderman
New Britain
2 comments:
Lou,
At least you were allowed to post your comments here without any interference from a blog owner that may or may not agree with your political views, unlike Costco and their apparent censorship of books by apparently not allowing the sale of books in their store that criticize Obama.
In case you only get your news at Costco and were unaware of the controversy, here is the latest story on the subject:
CENSORSHIP AT COSTCO: COMPANY BANS D'SOUSA'S BOOK 'AMERICA' BECAUSE IT IS CRITICAL OF BARACK OBAMA
07-08-2014 12:11 am - Dr. Jerome Corsi - World Net Daily
The retail giant Costco Wholesale has issued an order to remove all copies of Dinesh D’Souza’s bestselling book, “America: Imagine the World Without Her,” from the shelves of its stores nationwide, WND has confirmed.
The book, in this midterm election year, is a strong rebuttal of the progressive ideology behind President Obama’s policies, which have been supported by Costco co-founder and director Jim Sinegal, a major Democrat donor and a speaker at the 2012 Democratic National Convention that nominated the president. A Washington Post political reporter has noted Obama’s “romance” with the nation’s second-largest retailer.
At least people wishing to get this book still have the option of buying it at Walmart--unless they live in New Britain--where Walmart has been driven out of town by radical extremist Democrats.
At least for now we still have freedom of choice. I choose Sam's Club.
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