South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

TIFs are an invention to redistribute wealth from poor to private, says reader

Letters+to+the+editor

To the editor:

Today’s modern TIFs are an American invention where we redistribute wealth from the public to private profiteers with no strings attached.

I have never seen a TIF perform as advertised. They only work for the companies that receive them, not cities like Crestwood. Crestwood remains a monument to unsustainable 20th Century economic schemes that stagnate wages and keep local revenue low like the scams called TIFs.

We all know Crestwood doesn’t need a third grocery store. We all know most Crestwood residents don’t shop at Dierberg’s. We all know after publicly subsidizing Dierberg’s, they will just offer insultingly low wages to the residents that supported their business. This is a nightmare to informed people with functioning memories. 

If a developer can’t afford a project, they should not ask us for money. I’m sorry, there is no public demand for a Dierberg’s. This makes our civic leaders look extremely incompetent, corrupted by political donations, favors, and promises of future employment outside of local government.

They literally are selling Crestwood out again. I’m not going to lie; you actually have no say in this like you might believe. The city has already made up its mind. Millions of dollars flowing to the rich are at stake. Your tax money is now the lifeblood of major local businesses. 

We live in an era of unprecedented corporate socialism. It’s called a “race to the bottom” for a reason.

Matt Ankney

Crestwood

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