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Mary Z is correct that this is a problem, but I think a little more perspective on what's going on is in order.
The question is this: How does one get a low-interest operating loan from the City of St. Paul as a profitable business privately owned by wealthy individuals that is routinely faced with claims that it violates state and local pollution laws and court orders while still pocketing a big fat state subsidy check four times a year?
One word: Ethanol.
In a manner that is likely to anger its last half-dozen supporters left on the planet, the Strib has discovered that Gopher State Ethanol has managed to avoid paying its sewer service bill to the St. Paul Regional Water Services (SPRWS) and has instead turned the arrearages into a low interest loan financed by St. Paul taxpayers.
This gets complicated, so bear with me. GSE doesn't use City water - they have their own well. But they use a great deal of sewer capacity, as ethanol production is a water intensive use. The wastewater is treated by the Met Council's Environmental Services department, just like all sewage in the metro area. But like most water users, GSE pays SPRWS its bill, and SPRWS pays the Met Council. If GSE (like any other user) doesn't pay, SPRWS has to front the money for sewer services and try to collect from its customer - usually the threat of turning off the water coming in is enough to move things along. That's what recently happened at the Skyline Tower Apartments recently: You don't pay (or the records show your manager didn't pay), you lose your water.
But we're talking GSE here, so that doesn't happen. GSE doesn't pay its sewer bill, the City still has to pay the Met Council, and the City then has to try to collect by whatever means necessary. GSE has somehow managed to convince someone at SPRWS that its unpaid bills shouldn't result in service shutoff, they should instead be rolled over as unpaid assessments on their property taxes. As such, foreclosure can't take place immediately, the word from the County is that GSE has until sometime in late 2007 before foreclosure can take place. The interest rate on this de facto loan? About 5%. The amount of unpaid sewer assessments? On one parcel of land alone at the GSE complex (Parcel No. 122823230112) the outstanding Sewer Assessment is $688,520.35. There are five or six parcels in the complex, but not all of them have such amounts due. Now, given that the total property tax payable on the complex is about $135,000 per year, this is a bit larger than adding the costs of mowing Arno Karner's lawn onto his property tax bill.
The Strib story says they owe over $1 million in past-due taxes and assessments.
Moderate income housing complexes goof up and don't pay their bill and the water gets shut off, but GSE doesn't pay its bill and gets rewarded with a low-interest operating loan carried by the taxpayers for years. And it never even had to apply or go through all that intrusive part of showing anyone a balance sheet.
Inventive and creative? Yes. Surprising? No.
I understand that there is a proposal at the legislature that would make sure that local governmental units would have the right to make claim on the ethanol producer subsidy to satisfy back taxes due by plants. Makes sense to this taxpayer.
Diane Gerth
I really live in the West End.
wow a million bucks at 5%, lets see what could I do with that. No credit check, no forms just a couple of hockey tickets.
1) move and take a few of my nieghbors with me
2) get a real lawyer, instead of a pro bono mediator
3) expand my business
4) make my house air tight, n sound proof
5) run for mayor / city council to do something about GSE
6) pay for all the enviomental testing that city / county / state / fed refuse to do
7) maybe hire a lobiest
8) a good down payment on a containment dome around GSE without a retractable roof, to prevent them from sharing there stink and noise.
the possabilities just boggle the mind. But alas I am not GSE, and when I fell behind on my water bill, I didn't have any extra hocky tickets to give away so I had to come up with the money or else they shut off my water and the city condems my home for lack of running water.
Arno A. Karner West 7 th. St. < 300 ft. NNW of GSE aka Behind the Muffs http://tnss.com/noise_stink
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