Oh, wait, it’s only a restaurant/bar — not that any city officials have been critical of the county development group’s recent focus on attracting retail. Hey, now Lima is in the game — and offering tax breaks for a BW3 to move a couple miles. Good times are acoming to Lima. The county commissioners are loaning money to lure a Chuck E. Cheese and City Council is heaving the cost of government onto the rest of us to bring bar jobs.
Click on the picture and look at ‘em good. Those are the people — minus the two standing on the ends in the back row, Tom Tebben and Tommy Pitts, who weren’t there for the vote — who believe you should pay for police and fire service for a business that likely would have made this move anyway. This way, there’s some government assistance attached, so they’ve done something to “bring jobs.”
Do you suppose we, the taxpayers who will pay for the services (not that bars ever need police service), will get a discount on food or beer? Or do you suppose City Council just agreed to, pardon the term, piss away our tax money for more service jobs?
Per the story in The Lima News, BW3 will receive a 15-year, 50 percent tax abatement on real estate in exchange for brining 18 full-time and 27 part-time jobs into the city and creating another 18 full-time and 17-part time jobs. That’s economic development, folks. Big doings in Lima. We’re getting a new, old sports bar.
Someone ought to congratulate City Council and the administration for this stroke of economic genius — perhaps by voting for the other guys, whoever that might be when the time comes.
Mr. Lederman I could not have said that any better. Why on earth will we give tax breaks to a business that has been around Lima for a good number of years, with a customer base that is already established? They had no choice on moving, it was either move or be demolished along with the American Mall. I find city council’s priorities a little disturbing. We need more jobs, not an addition of a dozen or so we need a business that will make a substantial dent in the unemployment market. Myself, I’ve been here for over 30 years, I have a college degree and can’t find a job that will pay me my worth, not even just that there are no jobs around here. Therefore along with the many that have left Lima in search of better jobs, I will be doing the same. Can anyone on city council ever get on the same page?