Posts Tagged sales tax
Cuyahoga County Keeps Taking Extra Millions from Taxpayers
Posted by Roldo Bartimole in Economic Development, Politicians on March 5, 2010
March 5, 2010… The quarter-percent sales tax for the medical mart has now cost County taxpayers $87 million. MMPI, Tim Hagan and his Kennedy friends thank you all. Keep it coming, says Tim.
This is to fulfill the agenda of the Greater Cleveland Partnership. The corrupters of our civic life mentioned in my post below. The takers in our community life.
Since January 2008 through February 2010 County taxpayers have paid via the County Commissioners voted sales tax increase $87,131,339.38 for the med mart & convention center project.
That’s $87 million in slightly over two years. How it rolls in!
That is $87 million that could not be spent on food, gasoline, restaurants, toys, theater tickets or even cigarettes. In other words, this is $87 million worth of anti-stimulus money for Cuyahoga County businesses. It’s all take, no give.
That wasn’t the end of our contributions, however.
We have also contributed $63 million for the Browns. Is it in any way worth it? That’s more income really for Randy Lerner and family. Stimulus for the billionaires. And, of course, for the putrid football team.
We’ve been paying sales “sin” taxes on alcohol and cigarette products for the Browns Stadium (used maybe 9 or 10 times a year) since August 2005. It simply picked up from Gateway’s taxes. But you did vote for it.
The total take is $63,088,767.28. Thank you suckers, says Randy.
Just for the fun of it, here’s how the tax breaks down:
Cigarette smokers gave: $14.3 million.
Alcohol drinkers gave: $22.8 million.
Beer drinkers gave: $20.6 million.
Wine & Mixed beverage drinkers gave: $5.1 million.
That is $63 million that can’t be spent on food, gasoline, restaurants, toys, theater tickets or even cigarettes. To say nothing of rent and your mortgage. Another anti-stimulus poke to the wallet and a loss for Cuyahoga County businesses.
It comes in small bites but it’s somebody’s big free dinner.
The arts & culture tax has netted $58 million of your tax dollars since February 2007. The exact take was $58,061,190.71.
The taxes come primarily from cigarette smokers.
The total extra taxes – all highly regressive – total well more than $200 million taken in highly regressive taxes, the kind wealth people love to impose on ordinary, hard-working people.
You know most of it is only the beginning. Because the taxes remain for years and years to come. I doubt that anyone will legally challenge these taxes by a vote.
County Santa (Tim Hagan) Very Good to MMPI in 2009
Posted by Roldo Bartimole in Economic Development, Politicians on December 24, 2009
December 24, 2009… Santa Claus came often and generously to MMPI this year. It’s not a one-night trip in this case. Eight times – from May to December – he (played by Tim Hagan) dropped $333,333.33 checks into the Chicago firm bank account.
No need to send receipts. It’s a standing fee negotiated by that sharp negotiator Fred Nance of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey. He’s a sweetheart.
The $333,333.33 monthly checks add up to $2,666,666.64 for eight months in 2009.
What do we see that’s changed for our money? Any building by MMPI? No. Any digging by MMPI? No. Any acquiring of land for digging and building by MMPI? No.
But thanks for the $333,333.33 monthly allowances, says MMPI.
Actually, they don’t say thanks. They just send a brief money-due notice.
In addition to the monthly fee checks, another $1,240,799 was paid to MMPI for other tasks by the company or its contractors.
We can be happy though that, as the Plain Dealer reported this morning, negotiations for land at St. Clair and Ontario to acquire property where a medical mart can be built are not dead.
At the last public report, MMPI official Mark Falanga nixed attempts to purchase these properties as too expensive. Instead he wanted to build, apparently with no purchase cost, Mall C, city property. Then build his medical mart overlooking Lake Erie. On land reserved since the early 1900s for public purposes.
Using Mall C for a private business would have been crass, if not illegal.
We Cuyahoga County taxpayers have further enriched the Medical Mart/Convention Center fund, via the quarter percent increase in the sales tax, by another $3,084,125.90 in November. You will remember that the County Commissioners voted to increase the tax without any input or vote of citizens.
That puts the tab for taxpayers and the pool of money awaiting MMPI at $77,539,111.60. With a likely $3 million plus in December, the fund will be slightly more than $80 million for the first two years of the extra sales tax.
Just think, only 38 more years to go for this downtown trinket.
What $80 million in receipts in these two tough economic years tells me, however, is that the tax will bring in much more than $800 million over its lifetime. As the economy picks up and inflation adds to the price of what we buy, the sales tax will bring in more and more money to be used for the project.
(Meanwhile, the taxes for the Browns Stadium with November collections hit $59,583,958.34. Holiday greetings to Randy Lerner, too.)
Happy holidays to all you taxpayers – from me and MMPI and Randy.