Reading the [Grand Mayor Jay Arrowsmith DeCoux] Mayors blog concerning the city buying the Tomteboda more represents an exercise in creative writing rather than the reality the rest of us live in.
Cedar Grove [Business Park] is a failed business. If not for property tax dollars bailing it out, it would have gone back to the bank long ago. In over 10 years it has a church that pays no taxes, two businesses that combined pay about $9,600, two vacant lots, and 33 lots still for sale. Currently lots are going for about 60 cents on the dollar with property taxpayers picking up the losses. At this rate it will take 70 years to fill Cedar Grove and create all those property taxes the Mayor’s blog talks of justifying their actions. In reality, Cedar Grove is empty lots. It’s a wasteland sucking up property tax dollars, and it needs to start being used for something. If the city will not build in its own business park, why should anyone?
It’s about leadership, or lack thereof. Had the EDA followed America when building a business park, by soliciting businesses to locate here, bring their families to populate the school, bought or built homes, created jobs, we might have a much different community. Homeland Security wanted to build a headquarters here, we told them no. Twenty-five new families could have made a difference. Instead we have become a retirement vacation community where many homes sit empty most of the year as our elected officials blame our housing shortage on VRBOs, not allowing all the houses kept to house foreign workers into the conversation.
The city can paint any picture they want. Reality is Tomteboda paid $21,508 in property taxes. The city took that away without anything to replace it. That equals higher property taxes for the people.
After the fact the Mayor’s blog tells us our opinion counts! No reality here!
Tod Sylvester
Grand Marais
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