tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post1239749210286777290..comments2024-03-28T05:19:17.215-04:00Comments on Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report: Who spent $219 million on AY? The city and state obscure the issueNorman Oderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07618087999719667586noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post-52591587473553436632008-06-26T10:59:00.000-04:002008-06-26T10:59:00.000-04:00I believe that the letter to the IRS is intentiona...I believe that the letter to the IRS is intentionally misguiding in the following respect. It says that $47 Million has been spent that “relates to the arena.” It would have been fairer and more accurate had it said:<BR/><BR/> “$47 Million has been spent that would be allocable and relate to the arena should the arena ever be built. The expenditures are for basic infrastructure in the area which would also be entirely consistent with and won’t in any way preclude alternative development in the area. Should the arena not be built such allocable expenditures will then instead relate to that alternative non-arena development.”<BR/><BR/>As the IRS considers the appeal being made to make these IRS-loophole bonds specially available to unfairly transfer more wealth to Ratner from the taxpayers let’s hope that the Internal Revenue Service does not get taken in by one artifice offered in pursuit of another.<BR/><BR/>“Who” has really spent the money is probably a bit of a tactical tangle and I am not sure that ESDC knows which way they want to slant it though they say here that it was Forest City Ratner. There maybe tactical benefit in alleging or intimating that a private taxpayer will be harmed if this loophole is not granted to Ratner. On the other hand, the eye-wash-idea of these bonds is that government is acting and government will be backing the bonds with a diversion of its tax flow, so that suggests ESDC might want to use a different tactic with the IRS. In point of fact, the way that Ratner is proceeding as a conduit of public funds for general improvement which in the end the city would be interested in anyway tends to subtract him out of the picture if the arena is never built.<BR/><BR/>***<BR/><BR/>We hope that the efforts of Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) to reign in this abusive artifice and device behavior will be successful. We hope that Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton will take the right stance to prevent this tax loophole from being used.<BR/><BR/>For more on the special IRS loophole for sports stadiums and arenas- “R-TIFC-PILOT” bonds (pronounced “Artifice-PILOT”- or “Return Total Intercepted For Costs-PILOT”)- see:<BR/><BR/>More Money for the Very Rich: An Unsporting Pursuit?<BR/>Posted March 17, 2008 <BR/>By: Michael D. D. White<BR/>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-d-d-white/more-money-for-the-very-r_b_91970.html<BR/><BR/><BR/>Michael D. D. White<BR/>Noticing New YorkMDDWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16693635186364315879noreply@blogger.com