Tag Archive: arizona news


Foreclosure

Being minors, a lot of teenagers tend to be influenced by their parents when it comes to politics. During the past election, a lot of teenagers chose their candidate because it was who their parents were voting for, or they picked the opposite to spite their parents. Either way, Obama seemed to be a popular candidate choice for students. The promise of change was the major reason for the American population to root on Obama to win. Change is happening throughout the whole country, however, before things can get better, it seems that they are getting worse.

Arizona has one of the highest rates of foreclosure in the United States. A few weeks ago, Obama visited Phoenix to start a plan to help homeowners keep their homes. As teenagers, we have no control over what happens with our parents’ finances, and, for a lot of Arizonan teenagers, that means losing their home because their family can’t afford it. Obama’s plan to fight against foreclosure only applies to some families, not all. There are applications that families have to qualify for, and many households who need the money and help won’t get it because of restrictions. Even if the family does get help, a few years down the road, they could be in trouble again because this plan only keeps the bank off their back for a short period of time. In all reality, this isn’t helping the problem; its prolonging it.

So what do teenagers do to help out? They drop out of school and get a job to help pay the mortgage. Teenagers should finish high school and go on to college if they so desire. There are plenty of millionaires and billionaires in the world who could donate a few million dollars to help people get out of debt, and they could go on living their rich lives as if nothing happened. However, they sit back and watch the country crumble to pieces instead. This is exactly why other countries think that we, the United States of America, are selfish, and they have good right to think that.

So maybe Obama’s plan won’t exactly get Arizona’s homeowners out of debt, but there are sure others who could help. Why not campaign to major league athletes to donate money to help save a family? Or why couldn’t a movie star film half of their next movie for a fund to fight foreclosure? How hard would it be for them to pay a few hundred dollars extra a month? Apparently its extremely hard, because they would rather have their Hummer 3 Limos run about and waste all of our natural resources. So until the athletes, superstars, and billionaires of the world decide they have money to spare, I guess all we can do is hope and pray that our parents can pay for our homes.

-ceeturtle92

There is Kierland shopping center or Fashion Square Mall, but that is totally getting old. There’s Desert Ridge and Cine Capri, but those are also getting so passé. As a last resort there’s P.V. Mall, but that is getting pretty ghetto. Wait, what about that new place, CityNorth, by Desert Ridge? Oh my, that is perfect.

Except it’s not, really. Why?  Because the sales tax that comes from CityNorth does not all go the city of Phoenix. For every two dollars Phoenix receives in sales tax from CityNorth, one dollar will go to a third party. That third party is the Thomas J. Klutznick Company, a privately held real-estate investment, development and consulting firm in Chicago.

Thomas J. Klutznick Company of Chicago was the developer for CityNorth. Phoenix officials must have been pretty anxious to make the whole project happen because they actually agreed to this when T.J.K. Company approached them with their proposal. They were so anxious that they committed $97.4 million dollars in sales tax revenue for building CityNorth. According to the ruling court documents of a lawsuit filed by the Goldwater Institute from the Maricopa Superior Court, “the payment period is for 11 years and 3 months or until the City has paid a maximum of $97.4 million. After that time period or payment of the maximum amount, whichever occurs first, all of the sales tax revenues from the project will remain with the City”.

The reasoning behind the city’s decision is that the taxes we would receive, even though only half, would be that much more than we would otherwise receive. The city also argues that CityNorth will promote a development of urban core, decrease pollution, reduce traffic, provide hundred, possibly thousands, of jobs, and secure free public parking. The city justifies agreeing to T.J.K. Company’s proposal because, according to court documents, “the City North project would not be built in the same time, place, or manner as contemplated by the Agreement”. So basically, the city council didn’t think there would be another opportunity for the project to happen. There is absolutely no connection whatsoever to the city agreeing and the fact that CityNorth’s development team has given campaign contributions to Mayor Phil Gordon and his Vice Mayor.

It is no secret that Arizona and the United States in general are having fiscal problems. But what does that really mean? As a fellow student so eloquently once put it, “the economy is in the s***ter”. Sales taxes for the city of Phoenix and Arizona are sinking. More than 50 percent of the city’s main budget comes from consumer purchases and not very many people seem to be consuming.

CityNorth isn’t even finished, yet its had its grand opening already. Nordstrom, Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s have committed to open, but they aren’t even open yet because they are a part of Phase II of CityNorth’s development, which just so happens to be on hold. Hmm, could that have anything to do with the whole economy being in the toilet?

-carolina

Information:

www.tjkcompany.com

http://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/common/img/Turkenvgordonruling.pdf

www.goldwaterinstitute.org

Powered by WordPress and Motion by 85ideas.