Taxpayer Subsidies: Not Needed Then, Not Needed Now.

Taxpayer Subsidies: Not Needed Then, Not Needed Now.

Taxpayer subsidies to developers are rarely, if ever, a good idea. John Kane is asking for public money to fund his proposed "Downtown South" development. Because of my concerns, I spoke to the Raleigh City Council during the public comments period of the November 4th...

Downtown South – My Letter to the Mayor and City Council

Downtown South – My Letter to the Mayor and City Council

Susan Maruyama, a resident of Raleigh, sent the following email to the Mayor and City Council on Wednesday, October 21.   Dear Mayor and City Council members, I listened to the City Council meeting yesterday and was struck by the cavalier attitude of Bonner...

Sports Stadia and Affordable Housing

Sports Stadia and Affordable Housing... ... both share the feature of a taxpayer subsidy. Subsidies from public revenues are needed when a project is not feasible in a 'free market,' i.e. it will not generate income exceeding its costs --- otherwise private capital...

Taxpayer-subsidized sports stadiums aren’t good catalysts

  Did you know.... from our friends at INDY   https://indyweek.com/news/wake/raleigh-soccer-stadium-john-kane-downtown-south/ as catalysts go, taxpayer-subsidized sports stadiums aren’t very good ones. Economists are nearly unified in the belief that they don’t...

Watch Out For Your Wallet – Again!

The massive taxpayer subsidy John Kane is requesting for his Downtown South sports and entertainment project is a startling replay of his 2007 pitch for North Hills East subsidies. In 2007, the News & Observer wrote: "Kane wants about $140 million in local tax...