Cities: October 2007 Archives

OML Legislative Bulletin: Meetings Held on TIF

From the March 16, 2007, Legislative Bulletin of the Oklahoma Municipal League, about an effort by the public education lobbying groups to rein in the use of TIF by Oklahoma's municipalities. "Their proposal was to: (1) give themselves a final vote on a proposed TIF; (2) reduce the TIF time frame from current law's 25 years; (3). strengthen the TIF legal "but for" test by repeatedly complaining about the recent City of Norman TIF; (4) limit the public improvements (streets, water lines etc) available via a TIF. They complained about the City of Enid TIF; (5) split the TIF increment in half so they received half the TIF revenue up front and the other half would go to the municipality to pay for the development project; (6) remove the automatic designation of an Enterprise Zone as eligible for a TIF. They again complained about the City of Norman TIF; (7) strengthen the penalties for noncompliance with TIF requirements by potentially voiding the TIF if all the requirements were not followed by the municipality."

Reason Magazine - The Worst Mayor in America

Find some of our local officials mildly embarrassing? Meet Frank Melton, the mayor of Jackson, Mississippi. "He once stopped a school bus on a busy interstate because he 'needed a hug' from the kids inside.... He regularly suits up and leads SWAT-style 'raids' on homes, businesses, and even roadblocks in busy traffic -- without cause or a warrant.... He once bulldozed an elderly woman's house, promising to build her a better one. He then forgot to build it.... He keeps a house full of young men, including minors and/or felons, without having the proper foster-parent credentials.... I watched Melton and his bodyguards -- with submachine guns -- marched into private homes, walking past bewildered-looking tenants too afraid to challenge him."