After reading the article “County Schools Prepare To Set Priorities For Next Round Of School Building Funding,” I could not help but think about how helpful it would be to have the millions of taxpayer dollars given the owners of Walnut Common apartments to build some new schools.
In case you did not know, since 2008 our elected officials have given away millions in taxpayer dollars to the previous and current owners of Walnut Common apartments. Walnut Commons is surrounded by million dollar condos and townhomes downtown, yet they pay no taxes. Instead of the school board arguing to raise taxes on the citizens of Chattanooga for new schools, why don’t they argue against giving away millions to special interests?
Answer: this is the very definition of crony capitalism and the relationship between elected government officials (school board, city council, etc.) and select business owners.
John Madzin
Chattanooga