Here comes the Peoria Civic Center Authority with its hand out again. Seems they've gone ahead and started a massive construction project and then discovered that the bids are higher than they have money to spend.
Oops.
Why does this stuff keep happening? The Hotel, Restaurant and Amusement (HRA) tax was supposed to be temporary to pay off the bonds. But the damn thing keeps falling apart. And they can't make money without expanding. Again.
Proponents talk about hotel occupancy rates and the number of dollars that are pumped into the economy by visitors. Yet the damn thing cannot pay for itself. If taxpayers keep having to foot the bill through higher taxes, it obviously isn't benefiting taxpayers. The PCC was supposed to raise money for the city, not drain the taxpayers' wallets. Because of that, the Civic Center obviously and without question is NOT a financial benefit to the city as a whole. Perhaps there are some businesses who benefit, but not the people who are working minimum wage jobs who subsidize a high-end opera and ballet venue every time they buy a burger and fries.
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peoria civic center, civic center authority, opera, ballet, HRA, hotel restaurant amusement tax
1 comment:
FYI, Across the river in Washington, the tax payers are facing the very same issue with the proposed community center.
Bids are bigger then the money they can raise and they are asking city council for $5M+ in bonds to float a project that has little support and is projected to be fiscal red. The kicker is up to last week, it was suppose to be privately funded. Also, they do not want to take it referendum.
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