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Adam
F L I N T O I D
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Sat Feb 27, 2010 3:23 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Too bad this could not have been enacted a year ago as several homeowners were struggling. Allegations of loans that created hardship as some may have been fraudulent in nature.
Thanks Adam!
Introduced by Rep. Woodrow Stanley (D) on October 29, 2009, to extend "Neighborhood Enterprise Zone" property tax breaks to the University Park Estates subdivision in Flint, which is less than 10 years old, and is in a "renaissance zone" whose tax-exempt status is expiring soon. Under current law, these particular NEZ tax breaks are for subdivisions built before 1968. They cut the owner's local property tax liability on the structure in half.
Referred to the House Urban Policy on October 29, 2009.
Reported in the House on December 1, 2009, without amendment and with the recommendation that the bill pass.
Substitute offered by Rep. Woodrow Stanley (D) on December 8, 2009, to replace the previous version of the bill with one that revises details but does not change the substance of the bill as previously described. The substitute passed in the House by voice vote on December 8, 2009.
Amendment offered by Rep. Tom McMillin (R) on December 8, 2009, to tie-bar the bill to Senate Bill 945, meaning this bill cannot become law unless that one does also. SB 945 would authorize the creation of local “right to work zones,” where employers to join or financially support a union as a condition of employment. The amendment failed in the House by voice vote on December 8, 2009.
Passed in the House (89 to 1 on December 8, 2009. [Vote Details and Comments]
______________________________________________________________________
Received in the Senate on December 9, 2009.
Referred to the Senate Local, Urban, & State Affairs Committee on December 9, 2009.
Reported in the Senate on February 2, 2010, with the recommendation that the bill pass.
Passed in the Senate (38 to 0) on February 23, 2010, to extend "Neighborhood Enterprise Zone" property tax breaks to the University Park Estates subdivision in Flint, which is less than 10 years old, and is in a "renaissance zone" whose tax-exempt status is expiring soon. Under current law, these particular NEZ tax breaks are for subdivisions built before 1968. They cut the owner's local property tax liability on the structure in half. [Vote Details and Comments]
Last edited by untanglingwebs on Sat Feb 27, 2010 10:00 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Sat Feb 27, 2010 8:00 am |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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A few tax calculations at http://flintspotlight.com/?page_id=90 |
_________________ I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Sat Feb 27, 2010 8:14 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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I understand the loss of revenue implications, but I understand the concerns of the residents of University Park. Allegations include faulty and somrtimes substandard construction practices that were not dealt with in a timely fashion despite resident complaints. The administrations after Woodrow did not know how to properly address resident concerns or did not care. One or more homes have mold problems due to improper landscaping that allowed water into the homes.
The residents did not have adequate resources to correctly assist them with their issues.
Other allegations that have surfaced was fraudulent mortgages or misinformation that resulted in homeowners having mortgages they ultimately could not afford. It is my understanding they have had many foreclosures.
The residents have struggled to fight crime as they appear to have been targeted for B&Es prior to their crimewatch efforts. If the tax abatements help save University Park, then congrats to Woodrow. He had a lot of support, both democratic and Republican. |
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Sat Feb 27, 2010 9:59 am |
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Adam
F L I N T O I D
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Sat Feb 27, 2010 10:30 am |
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LakeWoman50
F L I N T O I D
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Why didn't they extend all the zones? |
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Sat Feb 27, 2010 12:05 pm |
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munnbreslin
F L I N T O I D
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Good to hear. If we want flint to rebound, we need to make it business and resident friendly, lowering taxes is great for both categories. |
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Sat Feb 27, 2010 1:53 pm |
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1pissedoffguy
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
LakeWoman50 schreef:
Why didn't they extend all the zones?
Well , Lakewoman, because all that matters to the "leaders " of Flint is are the areas where they and their cronies live and work or own property. The resf of Flintites are on their own, as always. |
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Sat Feb 27, 2010 2:57 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Rowe did not build the homes. I believe it was crosswinds that refused to fix the cracked foundations and other problems. The other developer was more ameniable to helping the homeowners.
One lady had so much mold she was told she should move out. There is a time limit on suing a contractor. This is where city inspectors and other deparments should have been involved to help these people. |
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Sun Feb 28, 2010 2:30 pm |
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Adam
F L I N T O I D
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Thanks for clarifying. I wonder if anything happened to the contractor/s who screwed up. |
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Sun Feb 28, 2010 3:09 pm |
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Ryan Eashoo
F L I N T O I D
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So it can be done! I was told earlier this year that the Ren Zones could not be extended. Magically one of the nicer neighborhoods in Flint gets it extend.
quote:
Adam schreef:
http://www.mackinac.org/12198
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_________________ Flint Michigan Resident, Tax Payer, Flint Nutt - Local REALTOR - Activist. www.FlintTown.com |
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Sun Feb 28, 2010 6:29 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Sun Feb 28, 2010 11:53 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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untanglingwebs
F L I N T O I D
FY 97 Homeownership Zone
Flint, Michigan
AMOUNT OF AWARD:
Homeownership Zone Grant — $2,013,000
NEW HOMEOWNER UNITS:
319 (269 new construction, 50 rehabilitation)
PROPOSED COMPLETION:
Unknown
HOMEOWNERSHIP ZONE SITE:
The University Park Homeownership Zone (HOZ) is a 265 acre area located in the middle of Flint. It is near the Central Business District and the Flint campus of the University of Michigan. The Homeownership Zone consists of two subtarget areas that are distinct but connected. The west subtarget area is bounded by Mary Street on the north, Saginaw Street on the east, Fifth Avenue on the south, and Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue on the west. The east subtarget area is bounded by Harriet Street on the north, Industrial Avenue on the east, Cornelia Street on the south, and Saginaw Street on the west. At the time of the Homeownership Zone designation, nearly half of the area consisted of vacant or boarded-up properties, and there had been no new housing development in 12 years.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:
Flint encountered a number of problems that prevented the implementation of the City's original Homeownership Zone proposal. The original proposal called for the development of new homeownership housing located in two subtarget areas - University Park and Smith Village. The City also proposed to rebuild streets and infrastructure, rehabilitate and expand a local community center, create new parks and green space, and initiate a small business support program. While the University Park subtarget area is complete, redevelopment of the Smith Village area stalled. The City is revising its Homeownership Zone strategy and developing a "restart" plan.
FUNDING:
Homeownership Zone Grant — $2,013,000
PARTNERS:
Smith Revitalization, LLC — Project Manager
Rowe, Inc — Project Engineer
PROJECT OUTCOMES:
Underway
INNOVATIONS:
Underway
BEST PRACTICES:
Underway
LESSONS LEARNED:
Underway
AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS:
None
MAP
PICTURES (not available at this time)
Content current as of 23 September 2008 Back to top
FOIA Privacy Web Policies and Important Links Home
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
451 7th Street S.W., Washington, DC 20410
Telephone: (202) 708-1112 TTY: (202) 708-1455
Find the address of a HUD office near you
Sun Feb 28, 2010 8:30 pm
untanglingwebs
F L I N T O I D
In federal fiscal years 1996 and 1997 a total of 11 cities were eatabished as Homeownership Zones. Flint, Michigan was approved in 1997 and was funded with $20 million of recaptured Nehimiah Grant funds. No new funds were have been authorized since 1997. The funding grant award of $2,013,000 was awarded on March 27,1998 for the University Park Homeownership Zone. Flint was to construct 319 new units of homes, of which a minimum of 51%, or 163 units were to be sold to low to moderate income families. Completion of the Home Ownership Zone was originally December of 2003.
The premise of the Homeownership Zone is the idea that the construction of mixed income single family homes near near centers of employment will help revivie neighborhoods in need of revitalization.
The majority of home buyers assisted must have incomes that do not exceed 80% of the HUD median income, which is adjusted by family size.
University Park was constructed, but Smith village stalled.
In 2004 Hud officials, concerned with the lack of progress, advised flint they must have a reasonable strategy for completion of the Homeownership Zone. In february of 2005 HUD demanded notice of Flints intention of coming up with a strategy or terminating the zone. HUD's College of experts came in to facillitate the execution of a new strategy. Flint was advised not to draw down any new funds until notified by HUD.
Nancy Jurkiewiicz-rich complied with all requests made by Anna Maria Farias, Deputy Assistant Secretary for grant Programs at HUD for the restart of the program. Failure to complete this project would have resulted in repayment of $1.1 million from the city's general fund.
Problems arose within the structure of the Citizens District Council and an inability to get approval of plans designed for the district. After the developer backed out because of the delay, a second developer was turned down because the group now wanted the first set of designs. Issues related to purchase prices within the Smith village area arose as the city was concerned the asking prices were out of line. The council became involved in political activities and may have held an illegal forum The forum was shown on channel 17 9comcast) and one of the leaders endorsed a candidate.
John Carpenter reworked the program to tie in to Hurley and their rehabilitation efforts. Williams street leads from near Doyle Ryder school toward 8th that goes to Hurley.
At the City wide advisory council grant review of CDBG and HOME funds from HUD, Flint Odyssey House was advised their request for $2 million of HOME funds was too high as only $1.4 million was available for grants. Odyssey House proposes building 22 townhouses for a total cost of $4.8 million in Smith village. They are also requesting MSHDA money and recovery funds.
Odyssey House was the proposed developer over 10 years ago before they encountered IRS and other tax difficulties.
Sun Feb 28, 2010 9:24 pm
untanglingwebs
F L I N T O I D
The September 2009 OIG audit erroneously attributed funds of $2.5 million to Flint area Enterprise Community Inc. The funds were actually earmarked, with the assistance of HUD officials, for the Flint Area Enterprise Community Zone, as part of the Homeownership Zone. This was done during the Stanley administration under the direction of DCED Director Alexander Thomas. Thomas also approved the Manhattan place and OK Industries 108 loans, both of which are in default
This finding is expected to be cleared..
Sun Feb 28, 2010 9:30 pm |
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Mon Mar 01, 2010 10:26 am |
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DonQuixote
F L I N T O I D
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[quote="Dave Starr"]A few tax calculations at http://flintspotlight.com/?page_id=90[/quote]
I have to give you the same info as I gave "Concerned", your Benjamin Franklin quote did not come from him.
Misattributions
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.
Widely attributed to Benjamin Franklin on the internet, sometimes without the second sentence, it is not found in any of his known writings, and the word "lunch" is not known to have appeared anywhere in english literature until the 1820s, decades after his death. The phrasing itself has a very modern tone and the second sentence especially might not even be as old as the internet. Some of these observations are made in response to a query at Google Answers.
A far rarer but somewhat more credible variation also occurs: "Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for dinner." Web searches on these lines uncovers the earliest definite citations for such a statement credit libertarian author James Bovard with a similar one in the Sacramento Bee (1994):
"Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner."
This statement also definitely occurs in the "Conclusion" (p. 333) of his book Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty (1994) ISBN 0312123337
Majority rule will only work if you're considering individual rights. You can't have five wolves and one sheep vote on what they want to have for supper - Larry Flynt. Carol LLoyd, Flynt's revenge, Salon, 1999-02-23.
Here's the link: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Democracy
Quotes are great if accurate. However most people do not do their research. |
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Mon Mar 01, 2010 10:31 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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quote:
LakeWoman50 schreef:
Why didn't they extend all the zones?
The groups building in downtown went to Lansing and basically wrote theeir own extensions for 4 buildings. Citizens from University Park came and requested similar treatment but were told that option was not available.
ToWoodrow Stanley's credit, that option for residential did not exist at that time but he managed a revision to get it passed with overwheming support. |
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Mon Mar 01, 2010 1:29 pm |
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