The Virginian-Pilot
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VIRGINIA BEACH
The City Council on Tuesday delayed indefinitely any action on whether to cordon off new tax revenue from the Pembroke Mall area to build a pedestrian bridge and pay for road improvements around Virginia Beach’s central business district.
City officials have proposed a tax increment financing district, or TIF, from Virginia Beach Boulevard west to Independence Boulevard, north along Jeanne Street and east to Thalia Creek. The TIF would be the city’s fourth, and include the mall, the shopping center that houses Kmart and the Michael’s craft store and a new office building.
Under the proposal, new tax revenue generated in that area would pay for the $3.55 million debt service on a bridge across Virginia Beach Boulevard. City officials argue that the bridge is needed to help pedestrians get across the eight-lane boulevard between the Town Center and Pembroke Mall.
City officials also hope that the TIF and bridge would entice the owners of the mall to upgrade the facility and perhaps bring in new stores. The mall has been renovated in recent years, and in 2006 the value of the buildings started to increase. In July 2008, the mall was assessed, based on land and rental income, at about $40 million.
Opponents of the TIF have urged city officials to consider slowing traffic first or letting the mall or the Town Center developer pay for the bridge.
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Fund the bridge
I agree the project needs to be done correctly and a median fence needs to be in place as well. But YES, FUND THE BRIDGE BEFORE MORE PEOPLE DIE! Sorry but people's lives are more important than TIF tax disputes and silly arguements. Make the bridge enclosed and with multiple entrances on both sides and somewhat heated and possibly with a moving sidewalk and people will use it. This should be a no-brainer for the city. Provide elevators on both sides and a direct connection into the Armada Hofler tower. This should be a multi-purpose, multi-directional bridge, which will make it different from the Norfolk General bridge which is known for being underutilized. FUND THE BRIDGE = SAVE LIVES!
vabeach4change
We did not elect Sessoms. His campaign and supporters Disenfranchised new, young and black voters with illegal flyers claiming he was an Obama supporter..there was a surge of new voters registered in Va Beach almost 20'000 60% under the age of 24...If you look at the poll results these concert looking flyers are why he won by a very small margin…
Not knowing who paid or printed these....Towne Bank and any of Sessoms Contributors should be banned from profiting or participating in any and all City sponsored deals or Private public ventures….
City Council this is the only fair thing to do if we are going to have a Mayor with contributors and a campaign with this level of integrity and disrespect for the men who fight and die so we have the right to vote…
If his friends will not benefit he will quickly give up the seat he’s stolen...
Sessoms can't vote on this
Here will be one of many Votes Will Sessoms must step away from. I do believe that Towne Bank at Town Center could directly benefit from this bridge.
Hmmm.... How many more of these votes will he step away from? Good Job voters of VA Beach... way to elect a mayor who can't represent us!
Thank you Reid Greenum
This is about diverting the control of tax funds away from the city’s General Fund and school board accounts and the balkanization of our city’s tax base to benefit special interests that intend to use the VBDA (Virginia beach Development Authority) and DED (Department of Economic Development) as a way for unaccountable spending outside of the City Council’s normal budgeting and spending controls. It’s an underhanded move to avoid transparency and the role of the citizens in the decision-making process for how our tax funds are being spent...
Why don't more people see this...Funny thing if you look at VBDA and PHR's website they are identical same pics and all...LOL
They can't possibly be that oblivious to what happens with their money?????? Don't elected officials have a fiduciary responsibility to citizens?? Just what's blatant is bad... Class Action LOL
sue anytime
You can always sue whomever and whenever you want Markk. The question is whether you win or not. Ques 1. Is there a crosswalk? 2. Is it accessable? 3. Is it plainly marked? 4. If appropriate, is a traffic signal adjacant to the crosswalk? 5. Is adequate time given to cross the walkway by the signal? 6. Are YOU responsible for YOUR own actions? Seems pretty clear to me. No fancy bridge needed to be paid for by taxpayers, let the businesses in the area fund its construction. We helped build the theatre, the garage, the hotel, think that was enough at least in my book.
Raise taxes for a bridge across a road
but not for schools? VB needs to put this on the back burner and leave it there for a long wait. When city services are going to be cut, jobs lost, I think a $3.5M bridge for Town Center can wait.
No Bridge
Town Center should be foot traffic only. Reroute Virginia Beach Blvd. so it splits and goes around both sides of the planned blocks for the downtown area.
One more thing...
Oh yeah, and it's the "greedy developers" who bear the brunt of the increased tax rate, not Joe Citizen.
And for the person who commented about city council taking away ALL of VB's green space, when was the last time you visited one of our FOUR state parks or wildlife refuges??? Might want to take a trip to the southern part of the city, Chicken Little.
How a TIF works
A TIF is a bit complicated and obviously, many of the you do not understand how it works. So, here goes. A TIF district is where the members of that district pay an increased tax on top of the regular tax that everyone else in the city pays. This increased tax is used to pay for special projects, i.e. a pedestrian bridge.
For simplicity sake, if the regular tax rate is 10 cents and the additional tax in a TIF is 5 cents, the 10 cents still goes into the general fund and the 5 cents goes towards the project. It absolutely does not take money away from schools, other city services, etc. That would be impossible - if the project does not get built, then there is no extra tax money.
Town Center Crossover
Oh please! I have lived in Va Bch for twenty years and have seen so many things done that we the people of the beach voted against, this too will happen. They can pay for it with the fines they will receive from those children feeding the birds at Mt Trashmore!