Here, ladies and gentlemen, we are presented with a choice. Providence has given us the perfect distillation of the philosophy which has guided the powers that be in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County for certainly the last five years, since the shock of a brief economic down turn, and probably the last 10 years. This philosophy knows no party, no particularly personality.
The outlook is, instead, the common mind-set of the professional American municipal ruling class, a class that Charlotte had largely ignored for many, many years to the city’s great benefit. But now, at the very moment when Charlotte teeters on becoming little more than Detroit-on-the-Catawba, the reason why is laid bare:
“Quality of life doesn’t happen as a byproduct of a free market,” said Harriet Tregoning, executive director of the Smart Growth Leadership Institute in Washington. “You have to be deliberate. You can’t just fix it afterward. I don’t know of too many communities that have been able to turn a Big Box space into a park.”
Tregoning spoke at Ballantyne Resort Thursday morning as part of a symposium on smart growth and regional partnership. The Urban Land Institute and Charlotte Regional Partnership organized the event, designed to get the community thinking about how the region’s future should look.
Quality of life doesn’t happen as a byproduct of a free market.
If you agree with that, then Charlotte has the right leaders and policies in place to plan your quality of life, as they define it, for you. If you disagree, you have some work to do.
First up, the absurd re-direction of at least $57 in property tax revenues from the new Wachovia office tower away from the city’s general fund and toward the $156 million Uptown arts plan. Wachovia is being allowed to direct its tax payment toward things Wachovia wants, a benefit that your basic taxpayer does not, and will not ever, have.
Either property taxes flow into the general fund to pay for basic services or you have put the Tregonings in charge who will plan the Way to Happiness. On top of that is the altogether insane, but expected, suggestion from City Manager Pam Syfert that the city needs a property tax hike to fund basic services.
No, the city needs a property tax hike because: 1) the city budget has millions of bloat in it 2) the city gives away millions in revenue (see Arts, Plan) and 3) an arrogant city staff has never been told to live within the city’s means — or else.
These are all very correctable issues. Excise all the junk from the budget and sell-off unused city owned property; end incentives, tax-free gimmicks, and revenue shell games; and direct city staff to spend no more than projected revenues for an upcoming budget year. Any questions?
Yes, still the vital one.
True or False –
Quality of life doesn’t happen as a byproduct of a free market.
