2Parks NID: It's Impact on Milwaukee's East Town & Your Wallet
The 2Parks NID is a proposed plan that will tax the home/condo owners who reside within the East Town Association and business owners who operate a business within the East Town Association. The NID will put aside tax revenue to help enhance and improve two parks: Cathedral Square Park and Juneau Park.Click here for more information on the proposed operating plan:
http://city.milwaukee.gov/ImageLibrary/Groups/cityDCD/planning/cpc/NID-No/2ParksNID2FINALCOMPLETEPACKET.pdf
Click here for a map showing the proposed tax area: http://city.milwaukee.gov/ImageLibrary/Groups/cityDCD/planning/cpc/NID-No/DowntownNID.pdf
I think we can all agree that everyone wants to have the nicest looking parks in the county. During the last City Plan Commission (CPC) meeting, the members who initiated the proposed NID hired a local architect to draft plans for the two parks. At first glance, the renderings looked very impressive.
The CPC ruled that further discussion among the members of the proposed NID needed to be done before it would approve such an idea. Topics for further discussion include:
(1) Is it fair and equitable to tax a few people for the benefit of many? One can assume that Cathedral Square Park draws more people in from outside the East Town Association during their weekly farmer's market, during their weekly outdoor jazz concert, or during their annual Bastille Days festival.
(2) Who are the likely candidates to receive any financial benefit of improved parks? It can be viewed that those entities that will see greater financial reward for improved parks are the businesses that surround them. As a condo owner who resides in the East Town, what financial benefit will I receive from paying this additional tax to improve the look of our neighborhood parks? In my opinion, this seems like an opportunity to shift money in our savings account to local business owners as well as the firms that will be hired to improve the look of our neighborhood parks.
(3) Does the existence of a NID create a two-tier park system in the county? This argument suggests that residents who live in more affluent sections of the county will enjoy a higher-tier park versus those that are not in the best financial position to create a NID (thus, only relying on county tax dollars to maintain the parks). Again, is this fair for the residents of Milwaukee County?
(4) More transparency, more accountability, and city representation. Who are the members of the proposed NID? Alderman Bauman argued during the last CPC meeting that a representative from the city should receive voting rights on the Board so that the NID doesn't make improvements to our parks that may not be in the best interest of the city and our neighborhood.
UPCOMING INFO SESSION - THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27
An informational session on becoming apart of the Downtown Neighborhood Improvement District (NID) will be held 9/27, 5:30-7:30 @ Miller Room at O'Donnell Park's Miller Brewing Company Pavilion.
UPCOMING CPC MEETING - MONDAY, OCTOBER 1
The CPC is planning to review the proposed NID during it next meeting - Monday, October 1 - beginning at 1:30p. Click here for the agenda: http://city.milwaukee.gov/ImageLibrary/Groups/cityDCD/planning/cpc/Agendas-2012/CPCWEB101122.pdf
I encourage all of my readers (especially those that live in Milwaukee's East Town) to attend both the information session and the CPC meeting. Don't know much about the 2Parks NID? Now is a good time to dive in and explore its impact on the East Town Association and its residents.
Disclaimer: This is a personal blog. The opinions expressed here represent my own, those providing comments are theirs alone, and none of which reflect the opinions of Shorewest, REALTORS(R) or any employee thereof. Shorewest, REALTORS(R) is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied by me or those who provide comments on this blog.
Labels: Economy, Real Estate
posted by David Ray @ 10:24 AM
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