The city's Health, Education and Housing Facilities Board canceled an advertised meeting on Monday - apparently due to quorum problems.
One of the items on the agenda involved the Chattanooga Choo Choo changing 97 hotel rooms into apartments.
Citizen activist Helen Burns Sharp said prior to the meeting, "In a striking similarity to the IDB scenario, it appears that the terms of three of the seven HEB members have expired (Hicks Armor, Diana Bullock and Stephen Fairley) and that there are vacancies on the board.
"According to information on the web, Mr.
Fairley moved to Greenville, S.C., in 2013. If so, this constitutes a vacancy, and it should be filled. He did not attend any meetings in 2014. HEB member Faye Boyle's seat may also be vacant. Ms. Boyle missed the last three meetings in 2014 and more than 50 percent of the meetings during the calendar year. According to Section 2-12 of the Chattanooga City Code, this attendance record constitutes grounds for removal.
"The chair of the HEB, William G. Bulls, III, may not live in the city. He was first appointed to the board some time before 2000. (When I recently raised this residency question with the city attorney's office, they told me that they have been informed that he is an elector in the city and that they have requested verification.)
"State law requires members of both bond boards to be electors and taxpayers in the municipality. This residence requirement makes sense. These boards approve the "forgiveness" of millions of dollars in city tax breaks (TIF, PILOTS) to private corporations. The property taxes paid by homeowners and small businesses pick up the tab to provide city services to these companies. These tax breaks contribute to the stagnation of city property tax revenues for other priority projects, such as police and fire and streets. This loss of revenue doesn't directly affect someone who doesn't live in the city.
"If all of the above information is correct, that leaves Stephanie Crowe and Greg Gentry as the only members of the seven-member board who are in proper procedural standing. When the Board meets on Monday to consider a resolution approving a PILOT tax break for the Chattanooga Choo Choo, Ms. Crowe will likely abstain from voting because her employer, a bank, is involved in the loans for the project."