[A] project of this magnitude will likely never again be seen in Peoria. The economic development potential will only add to the diversity of our economic base. As a community, each and every one of us should do everything reasonably possible to ensure the huge opportunity of Museum Square is not lost: it is much too important to our future.
You heard right! A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage. An offer this good won’t last long, so act now! Or am I the only one who found Mr. Bryant’s Museum Square article in this month’s Interbusiness Issues a wee bit overstated?
I especially liked the part where he said, “The synergies between the Caterpillar Visitors Center and the Peoria Riverfront Museum will bring upwards of 400,000 people per year to downtown Peoria.” Wow. The museum’s own website says “The Museum, in tandem with the Caterpillar Visitor Center, will attract more than 300,000 visitors each year….” Apparently Mr. Bryant believes it will attract a lot more — “upwards of” 100,000 more! The projections are looking better all the time. Heck, as long as we’re throwing out manipulatively-worded numbers, why not just say “upwards of a half-million people”? It’s true, give or take a couple hundred thousand, and it makes the whole project just sound more exciting (and profitable), doesn’t it? Or how about “upwards of four million visitors decennially”? That’s even more impressive.
Of course, “It does appear that a public funding mechanism will be necessary to complete the project.” Hey crossword puzzle fans, can any of you give me a three-letter word for “public funding mechanism”? So, first they disregard the public’s wishes and every city planning expert’s recommendation for redeveloping the old Sears block (urban density, mixed-use, residential component) — in fact, they propose the exact opposite — then they want the public to help pay for it. Genius.
You might ask why a tax public funding mechanism is warranted. “Across the country, projects of this type generally have at least one-third of their funding from public sources,” Bryant explains. In a related story, Peoria County is listed among the highest in “relative effective property tax level…as a percentage of market value” across the country. Across the country, the State of Illinois has one of the highest sales tax rates, too, and we have lots of local taxes piled on top of that. There’s talk of the state’s income tax being raised. Meanwhile, here in the city, we just voted to raise our property taxes to pay for some library improvements, and District 150 — courtesy of Aaron Schock and the state legislature — is raising our property taxes without a referendum to pay for new school buildings. No doubt taxes will also be raised by the Park District to pay for the new zoo and efforts to build a trail next to the Kellar Branch railroad line.
But hey, what’s one more tax public funding mechanism? It’s a small price to pay for Utopia.