Comments on Advance Indiana™: Evansville Council Approves $20 Million Taxpayer Subsidy For Downtown Hotel

AN EYE FOR AN EYE by John Sack is another startlin...

2013-10-03T14:54:34.533-05:00

AN EYE FOR AN EYE by John Sack is another startling look at Nazi Germany survivors.

Just because the public funds a portion of the up-...

2013-10-02T07:40:03.025-05:00

Just because the public funds a portion of the up-front cost doesn't mean that the project - $40 million of private investment - is not sustainable. The majority of the public $ are targeted for infrastructure improvements to link the hotel to other public buildings and streetscape improvements.

Indy and Evansville are on different ends of the spectrum regarding public-private investment. Evansville has done nothing and Indy has likely gone too far.

"enacting state laws that put a stop to these...

2013-10-02T06:17:33.611-05:00

"enacting state laws that put a stop to these ever-increasing public subsidies to private developments"

...there already is a state law. The Indiana constitution bans loans, and this arrangement, though not referred to as a "loan", is a loan.

We have a perfectly good constitution, if only we would use it.

Right on the mark Gary. The Hoosier Dome and Circl...

2013-10-01T21:48:23.247-05:00

Right on the mark Gary. The Hoosier Dome and Circle Center Mall were supposed to stimulate growth, but all we have seen is one Corporate Welfare handout after another. Neither Political Party has a person willing to stand up to this and say NO very loudly.

If the hotel could not be built without a massive ...

2013-10-01T17:35:43.601-05:00

If the hotel could not be built without a massive public subsidy, then it's not a sustainable investment. Indianapolis has played this game for the past four decades. Each new public investment is supposed to be the magical bullet the downtown needs to sustain itself economically. The only thing we've learned after four decades is that one public subsidy begets another and another and another and endless number of takers standing in line waiting for the next handout. Evanville had a larger hotel for years, the Executive Inn, that closed its doors because it couldn't turn a profit. Their convention center lost money even when the Executive Inn was operating at full capacity. Perhaps the casino's hotel offered more competition than the market could withstand.

The source of the city's investment is from ca...

2013-10-01T15:30:23.665-05:00

The source of the city's investment is from casino tax revenues, innkeeper's tax and TIF. The hotel links the existing city-owned Ford Center and county-owned The Centre and allows Evansville to at least compete for conventions. Without the city's investment, a hotel would not be built in this location.