A) People paying more in taxes than they receive in services is not a long-term recipe for success

B) Due to Tax Increment Financing (“TIF”) in the downtown/DDA area, most NEW taxes from development do not help the city provide any services whatsoever. New revenues from development are captured by the DDA, which performs no services at all beyond emptying parking meters and ensuring that Republic Parking runs the parking garages well.

C) But for the DDA, development could forestall decreases in the tax base as the U buys up more city land. Of course, if the intention is to tear down the historic neighborhoods around downtown in order to erect apartment buildings outside the DDA, you could get some boost in revenues, for at least a while.

I appreciate Sandi Smith’s clarification of this statement (or so it seemed). The city’s ability to deliver services is not dependent on development. Or if it is, then there’s a structural flaw in city operations that would be worth identifying and correcting. Powers said “important” (not “dependent”), which still raises questions of how and why and to what extent.