Naturally, when I hear about new public projects in the City of Raleigh, I am skeptical about the need to use public (tax) funds for that purpose. Some of the questions I usually ask are:
* How much tax money will be spent up front?
* How much tax money is required for ongoing expenses (such as maintenance and staffing)?
* Where do these numbers come from (such as urban development studies and financial impact studies)?
With that in mind, one of the things that has concerned me about the “Dix 306″ movement is the possible misrepresentation of the goals and potential value of their so-called “world-class park” to the citizens of Raleigh. This prompted me to dive into Dix306.org and the public records for the non-profit organization Friends of Dorothea Dix Park (FDDP) to learn more about the organization and compare that against what we know and don’t know about the people who stand to gain from this park development project.
If you have one of those “DIX 306″ signs in your yard, and you have not taken the time to consider all of the facts behind the Friends of Dorothea Dix Park, I encourage you to read my series of posts on this topic:
In other upcoming posts, I will…
* Summarize the details of the Friends of Dix Park White Paper, including the projected costs, the use of tax-increment financing to fund the project, and the entities who stand to profit from this plan
* Review the 2006 and 2007 tax forms for the FDDP to see how the organization is running itself and who is getting paid
* Examine the list of executive director, officers, and board members to see how many would be impacted by the proposed TIF
* Study the property values of the individuals affected by the proposed TIF and compare those to the income levels of those who live on those properties
* Interview various individuals involved in, supporting, and opposing the Dix 306 plan, and post some of the transcripts of those interviews
* Compare other proposed plans’ projected costs and claimed benefits against those proposed by the FDDP
If you have any information or tips that you think may help, feel free to post a comment here and I will follow up. (My email is not working properly at the moment, and I’m still investigating that issue.)
