"KOZ is a state program -- not a City program...and Southern Union wouldn't be building its NATIONAL, corporate headquarters in Scranton but for the tax benefits that the program offers...nor would Vaxserve be downtown, nor would investors be looking at the Connell Bldg, St Peters Square, or look to put thier operations in the Scranton Enterprise Center -- and in a few years virtually all of the businesses occupying these developments will be paying the full tax liability to all taxing authorities -- the same taxes that any business in downtown Scranton has to pay."
That assumes that the freeloading corporation doesn�t get up and leave after the KOZ runs out. More importantly, the back door politics involved in deciding which corporation gets the KOZ is highly suspect.
"Lost on too many short sighted, ill informed City residents is the $ that Southern Union employees (and others) will be spending in the downtown and in the region as a whole...and the perception and the reputation the City gains and earns by such an enormous amount PRIVATE investment. Are property values going down since Chris Doherty took office -- no -- they are stable or rising and that's the market telling a story of the City's future prospects...not the Times or the electeds."
That is yet another assumption with no basis. How do you know where they are going to be spending their money? YOU HOPE they will spend their money downtown. For all you know Southern Union employees (for example) may do their shopping online. This crazy notion that a city will somehow gain a reputation from a few KOZ freeloading businesses moving to the downtown is a myth. You can try and try but you won�t overcome this city�s bad reputation of small town, incest politics.
As for residential property values going up: My house can be worth 10 fold of what it was before Chrissy took over. That doesn�t mean a thing if nobody is willing to buy a house in this city. I find it interesting that property values are purported to go up at the same time the county is planning to reassess.
And where do/will these new employees live? Probably not Scranton (if they�re smart). They will probably live in the outside area and consequently contribute more traffic than anything else.
"The hole from which the City has had to claw its way out was deep -- but thanks to capable and informed leadership by Mayor Doherty and others -- the future is looking brighter every day. The nay sayers and the perpetual critics were silenced by an informed and forward looking majority in this primary election -- so this mature democracy still works...thank goodness."
The perpetual critics were not silenced. On the contrary, they came out and voted in a way that exceeded even the most optimistic expectations.
This notion that the KOZ is the savior for our city is nonsense. It is making Scranton (and the state of PA) look like a 3rd world country because city administration and many citizens are BEGGING for corporations to come into our community and exploit our cheap, abundant labor and our backstabbing politicians. We�re at the corporations's mercy. Thus, corporations are getting a free ride and operating on their terms.
Brazil was in the same situation with import substitution industrialization in the 80�s. Brazilians believed that begging for corporations to come to their community would do wonders and some how create �progress.�
And Scrantonians some 20 years later also believe in this fictive notion of progress. Scrantonians believe that KOZ businesses are going to come to this city, give the city a reputation and the �progress� in Scranton will �take off� like the so-called Industrial Revolution in Great Britain.
Look at Brazil, and more importantly, look at the power relations behind corporations getting a free ride AT OUR EXPENSE. Don't believe the hype. KOZ is a promise that is meant to be broken.
