Comments for City needs Target tax at http://pressbanner.com , comment 1 to 2 out of 2 comments http://pressbanner.com Tue, 07 Oct 2008 22:01:15 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://pressbanner.com/content/view/1211/41/#comment-886 I'm a 20 year resident of Scotts Valley; and understand the need for taxes to pay for services provided to the community. I would first recommend that the city look at their budget to determine the one department that consumes 50% of the expeneses; that would be the Police Department. Which I understand goes thru $3,000,000 each year. That's a lot of money for this small town. While I certainly believe the PD does a great job of keeping us all in line (read protected), it seems that the expense might be a bit exessive. Once that review is complete, and to the satisfaction of the residents of Scotts Valley -- then how about taxing us directly? The city benefits, and the people benefit. - Tim Hawkins Tue, 13 May 2008 17:17:01 +0100 http://pressbanner.com/content/view/1211/41/#comment-884 The chief makes the same error that other city leaders have made on this issue. The economics of Target simply make no sense for this city. There are costs associated with the potential sales tax revenue of this proposed project. When you look at the total picture, Target would be a net negative revenue proposition for both the local economy and our local government. In addition to crime impacts on our citizens and city services, the infrastructure costs of supporting a 155,000 sq. ft. big-box store exceed the benefits. The traffic impacts on Mt. Hermon Road, already the third highest traveled route in the county, would be in excess of an additional 9,100 car trips per day. The proposed Target site on La Madrona Drive is unacceptable. This is the primary route for many families and their children going to and from local schools. Peak shopping hours overlap with children leaving school to go home. The Target Shopping Center would also be a destination shopping experience. In addition to cloths and knick-knacks, Target would sell groceries, have a coffee shop and restaurants. There would be no incentive, or need, for shoppers to go into downtown Scotts Valley to visit other businesses. The planned Town-Center project will add another 174,000 sq. ft. of retail space to the Mt. Herman Road corridor. The Target Shopping Center would have a negative economic impact on this project as well. What this city needs is the kind of leadership that understands you have to look at both sides of the economic equation (income and expense) and the wisdom to know what appropriate development for the City of Scotts Valley is. The city does not need a Target tax. - Frank Z. Kertai Tue, 13 May 2008 09:38:46 +0100