Sankofa wrote:
Use the money for the schools, they're getting run down.
They've already got a plan in place for that - actually, they have several different plans in place. At the cheapest, it's going to cost the property owners/property tax payers $200 Million and depending on which plan they go with it could be close to $1 Billion... Of course, none of that money will go to the one thing that will actually improve ISTEP scores - replacing moron parents with responsible ones. I hate that schools are almost solely funded by property tax revenues and Indiana doesn't allow the taxpayers to vote on major expenditures such as this one. There should be a vote in which property owners/taxpayers get to vote on which plan (if any) to accept. BTW, even though Aboite is annexed, it's only FWCS district taxpayers who will have to pay for this. There are a lot of homeowners just barely making it now and they're going to tack on close to $400 a year extra, depending on which play they choose. Anyway, back on topic....
I'm opposed to the ballpark because I don't think it is going to generate the greatest benefit to the city of all the plans presented. I've heard suggestions of a multi-use facility similar to Spiece. That makes sense since it would get year around use. A much nicer than McMillen ice rink/multi ice rink with seating/3 or 4 dedicated rinks makes a lot of sense since Hockey's such a big sport around here and they could host hockey tournaments similar to the basketball tournaments Spiece hosts. Being downtown would bring those visitors downtown which would generate the kind of traffic and revenue to put in upscale restaurants, hotels, entertainment facilities, etc... there as well.