Dan Myers wrote:
I'm still on the fence on this (as many of us might be)
And even though the BID (or NID or DID) has limited benefits. ...
Maybe I still don't quite understand how imposing a tax to those who don't
directly benefit from the benefits works when some people who are getting
the benefits aren't paying a dime.
Dan Myers
From: Anthony West <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: [UC] BID and the Public Record
Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2007 02:14:14 -0400
Well ... I have to say it happens all the time, that people receive
government benefits without paying equally into the system. Just about
every tax you can name exempts some classes of citizen from paying it. They
still get the benefits, if benefits there are.
...
So obsessing over whether somebody, somewhere might be getting a benefit
they didn't pay for seems like a fruitless way to worry about our
neighborhood. -- Tony West
Tony, Im going to have to jump in and strenuously disagree with your point
above. I happen to agree with Dan, as he has captured in a nutshell my
opposition to the BID: "Why" some (landlords) are being assessed while
others (homeowners) are not. "Why" homeowners, who would benefit greatly,
are being courted to "support" a service they don't have to pay for, while
landlords are being demonized as cheap greedy slumlords for not wanting to
pay the freight.
My answer to the question "Why" is that the powers-that-wanna-be know that
the idea would go down in flames if it were to be proposed across the board.
Therefore it's easier to use a divide and conquer strategy to get the
homeowners on board with the promise of a free service, and then hold the
landlords up for derision for not going along with the demand that they pay
their supposed "fair share". The other part of "Why" is who would control
the decision-making process of the BID: if the entire neighborhood were to
be taxed, homeowners would be in the majority, and would therefore be in
control; if it were just landlords, the large corporate landlords and/or
other people with business interests with Penn would control it.
So I am VERY concerned about "why" some are being asked to pay and others
are not, and my conceern is based on a knowledge of the workings of the real
world, not on an obsession.
Karen Allen
----
You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the
list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see
<http://www.purple.com/list.html>.
