No matter what other principles of good citizenship and honorable action they take, make NO mistake about Tiffin University. Their Miami Street Improvement project will INCREASE TAXES to Tiffin Taxpayers! But you have an opportunity to prevent that! Think about it.
Citizen TAXPAYERS have been subsidizing Tiffin University's aggressive expansion with TAX Dollars for the last 25 years. This might have been OK when TU was economically weak and uncertain. Now that they have evolved into a powerful and influential economic Juggernaut, they hardly need TAX SUBSIDIES anymore. Please don't encourage Tiffin University Officials to continue exploiting their powerful economic and political influence to use our TAX DOLLARS for projects that hurt or abuse even one Tiffin Citizen of their rights.
On November 4th, please vote 'NO' on the referendum that will spend $800,000 of your tax dollars that Tiffin University does NOT need! Please vote 'NO' on "Ordinance 07-70 Miami Street Project" Referendum that will Close Jackson Street to neighborhood traffic.
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Tiffin University Threatens Property Owners
Here is how it feels to be an Elderly Property Owner at Tiffin University
2 comments:
How exactly will the Miami Street Project increase Tiffin Resident's tax bill?
Tiffin University's Miami Street Project will increase private property owner taxes in the immediate AND long term future. Here are some reasons that you can verify if you have the time and inclination to study the public records:
1) Tiffin City Taxes will pay for the "sewer separation project". This sewer project will happen at Miami and Jackson Streets AFTER 2010, and AFTER the University, if permitted, would spend the $800,000 appropriation from our federal TAX Dollars. So, AFTER Tiffin University Officials would spend the Tax money on their beautification project, much of the new streetscape will have to be destroyed to make way for the two separated sewer lines. The cost of destruction and reconstruction of Miami and Jackson streets has been estimated to exceed $300,000, not including inflation or the direct sewer separation costs. This cost would be born by the Residents of Tiffin who pay property taxes.
2) The private property owners on Miami and Jackson Streets pay property taxes now. Tiffin University does NOT pay property taxes on any of its 300 acres of land. Since TU Officials have already taken preliminary Eminent Domain action to force the sale of the Monaco Family Home, if successful, the property taxes from that one property will then have to born by other TAX PAYERS…NOT Tiffin University.
3) Without private property owner permission, Drs. Marion and Grandillo made a back-room deal with our local government to waive the normal requirements for “vacation” of the public Jackson Street. They have ignored the normal rules that they followed for more than 30 years. For example: About 20 years ago, they closed, through a “vacation” ordinance, part of Jackson Street that is now the walkway of north campus. “Vacating” the many alleys and streets near Campus has always been understood to be a fair and democratic government procedure to protect individual property owners from being abused by powerful corporate interests. But now, if TU Officials are not held to normal rules, TU’s campus will close a public neighborhood street, turn it into a campus asset, yet that part of the campus will legally have to be maintained by Tiffin City through our TAX DOLLARS…because Tiffin City still owns it. This is improper, to put it mildly.
4) Here is the real danger to Tiffin Tax-Paying Residents: We know from their own publicly-available documents that Tiffin University Officials have misrepresented facts, obfuscated, delayed and/or unfairly manipulated nearly every important aspect of the Miami Street project starting with Mike Grandillo’s application to the United States Congress. Dr. Marion has gone on the public hearing record, while he invoked the late Congressman Gilmore’s name in approval of his efforts. Dr, Marion declared the hearing participants and ALL of their concerns about the Miami Street Project to be “irrelevant”. Your Tiffin University Leaders, no matter how much good they have done in the past, have succumbed to the temptations of profligate power and mostly unfettered local political influence. To me, and a great many regular Citizens of Tiffin, the action of those involved in administering the Miami Street Project defines “Local Political Corruption”. The corruption has spilled over to the private sector where it is now difficult to tell the difference between Tiffin University Officials and the private businesses from which they profit BECAUSE of their close association with Tiffin University or our local government. If the Miami Street Project is NOT stopped now, ALL of these actions will set a precedent for further TAX-Funded Projects that will just add to the many that the Tiffin University has already funded through our TAX Dollars. The long-term consequence is a continuing spiral of more taxes to subsidize the already financially successful Tiffin University. TU simply does NOT need the help of financially struggling Tiffin, Ohio Taxpayers.
5) Finally, there is the “Citizen Abuse Tax” quietly born by Citizens who do NOT have the same influence and power of Tiffin University. It is the tens of thousands of dollars collectively paid by the regular Citizens as they try to oppose the influential and deep-pocketed business interests such as those represented by TU Officials on the Miami Street Project. It is money that Citizen Volunteers need to pay for gas as they go door-to-door for petition signatures or to inform the public of the unfair treatment. It is the money needed to make hundreds of phone calls, have an occasional meeting, print literature, and hire lawyers so those being threatened from their homes and streets can get a minimal amount of legal representation. It is the cost of a web site and the hundreds of costly hours needed to design it and keep it up to date. Unlike Tiffin University, regular Citizens cannot right-off these expenses or charge them off to someone’s budget. It is the $14,000 cost to get The Miami Street Project Referendum onto the November 4th Ballot. It is no secret that the people actively mobilizing to oppose the abusive aspects of the Miami Street Project are mostly elderly and ill citizens. Although some volunteers and opposition supporters are fortunate enough to have the financial clout to participate, many live on fixed incomes or social security. They are making a serious sacrifice with this “hidden tax burden”. It should NOT be so difficult for these Citizens to participate in Tiffin City Governance. It should NOT be possible to suffer the “Citizen Abuse Tax” just because TU President, Dr. Paul Marion, has misled the public and declared their concerns to be “irrelevant”.
Look elsewhere in this blog for links to no-spin, no-rhetoric information about the facts of the Miami Street Project and a rare view of Tiffin University Officials.
On November 4th, please vote ‘NO’ on the Miami Street Project Referendum. If you don’t, our taxes will surely go up because of it!...and you might be in line for the next public flogging by Tiffin University’s Dr. Marion and his powerful and influential associates.
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