The Black Creek, Aetna Mountain TIF (tax incremental financing) takers of taxpayer bond leverage are the insiders that wallow in arrogance of power and your tax dollars.  The taxpayers will be subsidizing the roads and utilities to the tune of $9 million for 20 years.  Golly, we need that private club house and swimming pool on Aetna, high priority, right?

I am allowed to object to the abuse of public resources.  After all, I am a vested city of Chattanooga property taxpayer.

The Black Creek, Aetna Mountain developers have pulled a bait and switch on we the people, by converting the loan capacity of our city, into their own working capital. I am also troubled by the cronyism involved that easily allowed the Tiffersto access the city of Chattanooga’s bond capacity.

One of the major principals in the Black Creek, Aetna Mountain TIF is Councilwoman Sally Robinson’s son-in-law, and the connection of insiders is simply mind boggling. One would think it would be difficult to take public resources to enrich yourself, not hard at all if you know the insiders.

Tax incremental financing is a mechanism for government to restart blighted areas through public investment, and return the investment through post development higher taxes.  I feel strongly that Black Creek, Aetna Mountain LLC robbed the blighted areas of Chattanooga that needed this help.  There is nothing blighted about undeveloped land, club houses, and golf courses.

I keep looking around Black Creek, Aetna Mountain for blighted areas and all I can find are the signs for private club houses, pool, and a golf course that the people of the blighted areas will never see or use, but will subsidize for 20 years.

Your city of Chattanooga bond capacity is hard at work with Tiffers that embody arrogance of power leveraging your tax dollars for their personal wealth, cronyism with our city council, and doing nothing for the citizens that genuinely live in blight.

Sure Chattanoogans living in blighted-poor areas in Chattanooga needed a private club house on Aetna Mountain.  Absurd.

April Eidson 

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I admire April Eidson's courage and drive for speaking her mind and providing a positive influence to the taxpayers as to where we all may be getting scammed. The sad commentary in response to her opinion is that there are a lot of well educated and well connected people that have found there is no easier way to acquire wealth than to be subsidized by the American taxpayer. When they get these tax incremental deals, no bid contracts, grants, you name it, it is the person that is either working now or that has paid into the system and it is being siphoned out in the form of taxes.  

We all question foreign aid, yet what about the Tax Incremental Financing, or TIF, for a billion dollar company, York Capital. That is who your tax money is subsidizing on this project being discussed, look into just who Black Creek and York Capital is and let your elected officials know if you want your tax money subsidizing them, please.  

Another sad section of this story is about the people that let this type of political incest, such as a TIF for a luxurious expansion of an already really nice area, take place. Many of the people on the Chattanooga City council, which is involved in a law suit over the possible improper use of this TIF, have been removed by the good people of Chattanooga. The rubber stamp for such deals, hopefully, may well be behind us. Yet, if the Murphy run off does not take place, there is still one more seat up for grabs that will add to the downfall of the past city council and up lifting of the people that actually pay the bills, you. That would be the seat Jack Benson has had for a very long time. Did you realize he voted for the TIF? I encourage everyone from Benson's district to vote for Larry Grohn since he is a proven conservative thinking person that despises political incest, like the rest of the good people of Chattanooga.  

Another thing, some of the exact same people that have requested the TIF for Black Creek are on record, in a news story, explaining they have plans for another of TIF for another area of land they own where the old Wheland and U.S. Pipe plants are. There is nothing better than taxpayer money, right?  

We hope that such commentaries as these and others will make the good people of our area more alert to these types of possible taxpayer abuses, so keep your eyes and ears open and let us all know if you suspect taxpayer abuse is about to take place.Thank you for your time and concern.

Joe Blevins