Posts Tagged medmart
Here We Go Again… More Money for Billionaires
Posted by Roldo Bartimole in Economic Development, Media, Politicians on June 3, 2010
June 3, 2010… MMPI of Chicago is closing in on $100 million kitty thanks to hard-pressed Cuyahoga County taxpayers. Thanks, Timmy and Jimmy.
The Medical Mart quarter-percent tax passed by Tim Hagan and Jimmy Dimora with acquiescence of Peter Lawson Jones (the guy who can’t take public transportation home but needs a special tax-paid driver) delivered another $2.9 million in May. All for a good cause, right? Wrong.
That brings the total taxes collected for the Medical Mart/Convention Center to $97,359,348.55.
Do you think a newspaper with the resources of the Plain Dealer could tell us just how that money is now being spent? I do. Apparently its editors don’t, however. Because we never get an accounting. Waiting for the FBI, I guess. Twenty years from now.
County taxpayers – really smokers and drinkers – have contributed another $1.6 million in May. That brings the total since August 2005 to $66,233,782.20. A lot of money. But hell we have to help the billionaire Lerner family. Don’t we?
And smokers get hit for another $1.5 million in May for the Arts & Culture tax. It brings the total collected since Feb. 2007 to a cool $62,308,332.51. Think we could get the PD to give us an accounting of how this money has been doled out? Not a chance.
All these taxes by the way are regressive taxes. In other words, they weight most heavily upon those of us with small incomes.
County Commissioners can never think of a luxury tax that would hit the rich for these things they MUST have. Maybe the new reform County government will take a look at how to take from the rich instead of giving to the rich. Nah.
The total for the three regressive taxes, rounded off, is now more than $225 million. You paid it. You should know.
Wonder how many necessary products that would have bought and how many jobs it would have produced if not given mostly to help billionaire sports owners.
Let’s keep LeBron. Doesn’t matter what it costs. We must have him.
Whole Lot We Don’t Know about MMPI and Its Deal with Cuyahoga County
Posted by Roldo Bartimole in Economic Development, Media, Politicians on April 18, 2010
April 18, 2010… Here are some questions I would appreciate answered from the Cuyahoga County Commissioners and/or their attorney Jeffery Applebaum. I don’t believe any of the questions would interfere with the sticky problem of negotiating the best prices for the project. That’s the excuse being used to keep the public in the dark, it appears.
Presumably, proper plans and a proper lease would answer these questions.
Here are my questions. Somehow I ended up with 13 categories of questions. I hope I didn’t jinx the project:
- Will Cuyahoga County taxpayers pay for the site and construction of the medical mart to be used as a private business of MMPI of Chicago? (Actually, we already know. The answer is yes.)
- Will Cuyahoga County taxpayers consider the MMPI Medical Mart a property tax exempt building? In other words, will it ever pay any property taxes? (I think we already know this answer, too. It’s yes.)
- Will Cuyahoga County taxpayers finance the furniture, furnishings, telephones, computers and all the other office equipment needed for the MMPI Medical Mart? (Don’t know but quite likely it will happen.)
- Will Cuyahoga County taxpayers finance any new restaurants in the Medical Mart or Convention Center – restaurants that will serve not just conventioneers but the general public?
- Will Cuyahoga County taxpayers pay for the restaurant furniture and bar equipment, etc.? Chairs and tables? Knives and forks?
- Will Cuyahoga County taxpayers pay for the full array of kitchen equipment, stoves, refrigerators, pans, pizza ovens and other incidental kitchen equipment?
- Will Cuyahoga County taxpayers allow these restaurants to compete with other downtown restaurants? By this I mean could these restaurants not only serve conventioneers but the general public on a daily basis though they will be tax-subsidized and property tax free?
- Will there be any housing – apartment – allowed in the Medical Mart building for MMPI executives jetting out of Chicago and into Cleveland at sundry times?
- Will Cuyahoga County taxpayers provide and fund any executive food service facilities in the Medical Mart for MMPI?
- Will Cuyahoga County taxpayers provide free parking for MMPI employees or any other executives hired to operate this project?
- Will Cuyahoga County taxpayers be responsible for upkeep and/or funding capital improvements?
- Will Cuyahoga County taxpayers share in any of the profits of this venture? Yes, I jest.
- Will Cuyahoga County taxpayers pay for the salaries of any MMPI Chicago executives once the project is completed? If so, how many, at what cost and what percentage of their time will be spent in Cleveland?
You can email the answers to Laura Johnston and Henry Gomez of
The Plain Dealer since they seem to believe you people are keeping secrets from us all. Now why would they think that?