Beech Grove Makes the National News!

[femurphy77]

I know there's another thread on this but Buckley has to be proud!

Mayor to Walmart: Pay for Your Own Security | Fox Business

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Well, isn't this an interesting little tidbit:

The Beech Grove Walmart story raises the controversy over what are called “tax increment financing districts.” In these districts carved out to cover the area in which a local Walmart store sits, the store does not have to pay property taxes for about 25 years

Walmart is draining our resources, it’s bleeding us. They only pay property taxes into the local taxing district, not back to us in the town.

So the people arguing they should be able to deduct the cost of hiring their own security from their property taxes don't have much to hang that argument on now.

More corporate welfare for a company that makes billions and still has $3 billion a year for Sam's kids.

 

[lonehoosier]

.

 

[Gadgetmonster]

Buckley said: “Local people here, the vast majority, support Walmart, but they’re concerned about it. I don’t think Walmart does a good enough job of controlling who comes in their store and what they do when they come in their store. They [Walmart] need to send a message they’re not going to put up with this.”

Agreed. WalMart really needs to lean into this issue.

 

[Twangbanger]

Can anybody put a number to how much Police resources have to be devoted to a store like this? I understand it's pretty significant.

 

[Peter Potamus]

...I don’t think Walmart does a good enough job of controlling who comes in their store and what they do when they come in their store.

The same people complaining about the trouble at Walmart would be the exact people who would whine nonstop if Walmart stopped greasy, dirty, tattoo freaks like the one who participated in the event in question, and told them they were not welcome in the store. At the Walmart in Beech Grove, if you stop undesirable looking patrons from entering the store, you might well eliminate 70% of those attempting to enter. The statement by Buckley is easy for him to make but has no credibility....typical of his rhetoric. Walmart is not the source of the problem...they are a victim of it.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

Beech Grove! This song is for you!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lc4TnopiuzQ

would be the exact people who would whine nonstop if Walmart stopped greasy, dirty, tattoo freaks like the one who participated in the event in question, and told them they were not welcome in the store.

Why do you hate freedom . . . and misdemeanors?

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Can anybody put a number to how much Police resources have to be devoted to a store like this? I understand it's pretty significant.

In terms of money, I can't. In terms of man hours, yes.

Figure a compliant shoplifter will require about 1 to 1.5 hours of a patrol officer's time in terms of response, paperwork, initial report, and waiting for transportation. Figure it will also generate a jail wagon run, so maybe another .5 hours there. Figure a fight takes at least 2 officers, maybe 3. Figure .5 hours for the ones who show up and assist, and another 1.0 hours for the guy stuck with the report. If there are multiple offenders, multiple officers may be tied up waiting on the jail wagon. People who are not apprehended but are identified (or potentially can be via plate number, video, fingerprint, etc.) can take a lot of time for a detective. Maybe 3-5 hours of investigation and writing up a warrant packet. Then the sheriff's department will attempt to serve the warrant, so there's more man hours there. Something like the shampoo aisle fight where DCS gets involved? That's more waiting and paperwork for the officer.

Now figure a single location generating 3-5 incidents per day...you can see how it adds up. Wal-mart becomes it's own beat. The only other place I know that generates runs like that is a mall, where multiple stores are having issues.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Well, isn't this an interesting little tidbit:






So the people arguing they should be able to deduct the cost of hiring their own security from their property taxes don't have much to hang that argument on now.

More corporate welfare for a company that makes billions and still has $3 billion a year for Sam's kids.

And dont forget THIS crap they (and other big boxes) are pulling:

Cliffs notes: Tax attorneys for the companies are claiming that due to how nuanced their stores are, nobody will want them when they are done so they arent worth as much as the .gov says they are. Because of this they claim that they should not only pay less in property taxes for an otherwise worthless building, but are also owed a refund for taxes paid to date.

I call BS. I can rattle off 5 of these "disposable stores" that are successfully being used today by other companies. Burlington Coat Factory has at least 3 stores I can count that THEY didnt build.

For Cities, Big-Box Stores Are Becoming Even More of a Terrible Deal | Institute for Local Self-Reliance

 

[Hohn]

You guys don’t even know the half of the TIF scam.
The TIF—in theory—allows a redevelopment authority to “borrow” against future property tax revenues and spend them on various handouts to lure business. Let’s say a developer wants to buy a 100k property and turn it into something worth $600k afterwards by improvements. The “increment” is the difference between them, and the incremental tax revenue generated by that incremental basis is available to be spent—hopefully your local politicians don’t spend all of it. The taxes on that “increment” are then phased in over time—typically 10 years before full taxes will apply.
The “disposable building” scam is just the small part of it.
The real scam is how TIF is used for back-door tax increases on everyone else.
See, property tax rates are calculated by the DLGF based on 1) the expected spending and 2) taxable basis. So if a taxing authority (say, a city) has 5B in taxable land property, and budgets 50M in spending, then the calculated tax rate would be 1%.
In a TIF district, only the pre-TIF basis is lumped into that broad taxable base. All tax revenue for the “improvements” goes to the TIF funds where local redevelopment commissions can use it.
Here’s how the scam works: assess the property at the high end of plausible before the TIF district is created and development occurs. Then, after the development is done, the appraisal value of the pre-TIF condition is steadily reduced. That has two effects: it shrinks the “base” and makes the “increment” larger.
Because the tax base is smaller, the applicable tax rate for a given amount of spending is higher. And because the “increment’ is larger, a huge amount of tax revenue is diverted to redevelopment commissions.
Redevelopment commissions can then become almost self-funding off their fat ‘incremental” revenue—a nice slush fund to reward cronies—developers and business friends. Meanwhile, all the public services paid for by general fund are starved for cash, and the taxpayers are being asked to cough up more and more (for the kids, you know).
This is happening in our area, and the data proves it.
It’s happening elsewhere, too.
I’d encourage you to get into your local public records and GIS system. Find the appraisal history for TIF districts in your area. You’ll see the scam in action.

Indiana Policy Review

Indiana Policy Review