Da Vinci Science Center Getting In On The NIZ

WFMZ-TV69
Da Vinci Science Center aims to build new center in downtown Allentown"The center's current goal is to open the new facility in 2023. The new location is currently estimated to cost about $60 million."

According to THE MORNING CALL, Allentown’s Hamilton Street parcels are not in the NIZ, but the city would apply for inclusion through a parcel swap at Da Vinci’s request... The city offered to guarantee as large a federal loan as it can, likely in the $5 million range... The $20 million grant is still secured for the new science center despite its move to downtown Allentown, Browne said Thursday.

I'll tell ya what I think... there's an awful lot of taxpayers' bucks involved here. This NIZ program could end up over $2b before it's done (if it ever is). This NIZ thing seems to keep growing and growing without a clear end in sight. Like I've mentioned before... no matter how much NIZ none of our taxes here in Allentown seem to ever go down.

There was a time when every building on Hamilton Street was built as a result of consumer demand via private investment dollars. I may be way off base but I think if we have $60 million to throw around it would be much better spent trying to eliminate (or at least lower) property taxes for individual home owners. Thus attracting more families allowing them to purchase goods and services (creating a consumer demand) along Hamilton Street like they used to do in the old days.

Seems to me perhaps we could have somehow created a $2b NIZ for citizens instead of a couple of developers. Here's how it might have worked. The state could have loaned newly arriving individuals (like they did developers) to build new homes on unwanted or foreclosed city owned properties. Since the city is or was not receiving taxes on these previously it would forgo city taxes for let's say 10 or 20 years. In turn homeowners would spend what they otherwise would on city taxes and their state income tax to repay these loans from the state. This is very similar to the deal developers received..

Here's the one major difference. There's way too many excluded properties that could have been included otherwise if it were not for the NIZ. The city would still be receiving taxes on all those properties they've destroyed for the current NIZ. Nor would have the current NIZ incurred the costs to seize them. The current PPL arena could have been built over by the iron pigs baseball stadium which wasn't producing taxes anyway.

Currently Allentown's budget is approximately $115 million per year. The majority which is raised by individual homeowners. So why wouldn't we want more of them instead of renters who come and go. I suspect the city has no idea how many aren't paying city income tax nor the per capita tax as they drift in and out. Such is not the case with actual on the record homeowners. You know, the ones who hold a stake in what happens to Allentown over he next 10 or 20 years.

Yeah I know I've drifted off somewhat from the Da Vinci Center proposal, but I hope you see how this relates. It seems to me it's a going down the wrong path. I'd prefer investing in homeownership over another entertainment venue unlikely to recover the possible $60 million for decades to come. Whereas homeownership would have both benefited people here and now and the city as well if this were to have been the course taken.

That's my two cents. So what do you think?