What is 300,000 Dollars?

What is 300,000 Dollars?

By Alan S. Freemond, Sr.
Jackson Township

What is 300,000 dollars?

Well, firstly it represents the yearly average income of more than 6 Dearborn Countians.

Secondly it represents the average county income tax bill of 1408 Dearborn Countians.

Thirdly it represents the average state income tax bill of 253 Dearborn Countians.

This is not an insignificant sum of money to most Dearborn Countians. This is the sum of money that the county council had left over from the riverboat revenue that was to go to the region for economic development.

What is council doing with it? In their Received Wisdom (and let’s hope that it is only wisdom that they have received) they are giving it to the Redevelopment Commission. The redevelopment commission is going to take taxpayer money to buy land for their dreams of “Economic Development.”

There is no question that any of our wealthy Dearborn County tycoons of the DCEDI cannot write a check right now for 300,000 dollars to replace that 300,000 dollars of the taxpayers’ money. After all it was reported that to become involved in that secret organization the DCEDI one must pay DCDEI 5000 dollars. Now you know that no one writes a check for 5000 dollars to some sort of business organization, unless they believe that they will profit from doing so.

One wonders how many Dearborn County farmers joined the DCEDI.

Incidentally this reported 5000 dollar entry fee to DCEDI represents more than 10% of the average income of a Dearborn Countian BEFORE TAXES ARE TAKEN. These DCEDI people can pay their own way.

Books have been written on the subject of the risks of these schemes. They are anchored upon bonds issued by a governing bond and guaranteed by that government ‘s revenues, again taxpayers money. If they bonds are simply revenue bonds the fees for using the facility can be raised in order to protect the bond holders. Ordinances can be enacted to force more people to use whatever facility the bonds represent. This is well demonstrated by the unfortunate behavior forced upon of the St. Leon Sewer board. They have passed an ordinance to force people hook up to fund their bond indebtedness.

The DCEDI has hired an advisor whose business it is to teach his wealthy patrons how to get taxpayers to guarantee their schemes.

We are dealing with a group of men and women who are trying to achieve greater wealth by forcing the less fortunate Countians to guarantee their planned investments or schemes. This is worse than shameful. If these unknown people don’t have enough confidence in their various schemes to fund them themselves, which they can do, why should the ordinary Dearborn Countian do it for them?

It has been reported that the offer for land (acquisition cost) is 10,000 dollars an acre. If one has 100 acres and gets what will be “sold” to them as an unimaginable sum of money, one million dollars, one must remember that investing that money in shorter term tax free bonds might yield somewhere between 30 and 40 thousand dollars a year, with no allowance for inflation. These folks will not be as well off as they will be enticed to believe.

A Fehrman Realtor has already begun a campaign to buy land in Jackson Township. Fehrman is also the last name of the individual on County Council who recommended this 300,000 dollar giveaway; however that’s probably just a coincidence of names.

Soon we should discuss the validity of the claims of benefits for Dearborn Countians.

Alan Stanley Freemond, Sr.
Jackson Township