BY MIKE CETERA
The promise and the problem with government programs meant to erase blight and poverty is hope. Such programs promise hope for a better future, hope for bright and shiny buildings and fancy cars and gourmet restaurants, hope for jobs and lower taxes, hope for a return to or a beginning of a golden age.
The problem is the disconnection between hope and reality.
State lawmakers -- with virtually no opposition -- voted last month to extend the life of Aurora's downtown tax-increment financing district, a district that was supposed to bring the Link project and then RiverCity Aurora, but has instead brought only promises of yet another major development. This extension gives leaders more opportunity to dwell on the hope of revitalization, even while at least one study shows revitalization occurs faster without TIFs, which also have been accused of being little more than de facto tax increases...
The city of Aurora this week trumpeted the state legislation, which awaits the governor's signature. The press release is full of promises of hope.
From Mayor Tom Weisner:
"We have made a lot of progress in downtown Aurora, but there is more to do. This bill allows us to continue partnering with businesses to create jobs for our residents, lower the residential tax burden, and make Aurora a cleaner and safer community in which to live, work and play."
From State Sen. Linda Holmes:
"No one should think that the passage of the TIF bill will change things overnight...But it would begin to have an immediate effect in that it will show the city's commitment to downtown businesses and residents."
Coincidentally, Holmes' comments are strikingly similar to those then-Mayor David Pierce told the newspaper in 1986 upon the passage of the downtown TIF:
"We have taken the steps now that will give us the opportunity to see major redevelopment downtown...It's not going to happen overnight, but the tools are in place. The ingredients are here and the time is right."
In that same article, then Alderman Robert Cutter, the only alderman to vote against establishing the district, had this to say: "TIF means 'if' to me. I think we're tying up a lot of money for a lot of years."
It looks like the "if" will continue for 12 more years.
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