Gloucester Crossing TIF district referendum (2009)
The Gloucester Crossing TIF district referendum was an effort by a group called No Free Lunch for Gloucester Crossing. The ballot measure was going to appear on a ballot in Essex County, Massachusetts in Gloucester Crossing, but it did not qualify.[1]
The "No Free Lunch" group had collected signatures to force the matter to a vote, but city election officials said they didn't get enough. The group was contesting that decision, contending that the city started counting days against the 21-day deadline for the petition for days too early, depriving the group the time it needed to collect enough signatures.
A provision in the city charter allows residents to force the Council to re-consider a vote if they can collect signatures from 10 percent of registered city voters within 21 days. 10% is 2,095 signatures.[2]
Jamie O'Hara, a leader of the "No Free Lunch" group, says that city officials are basing the start date of the 21-day deadline for collecting signatures from an incorrect reading of the City Charter.
City Clerk Bob Whynott and City Solicitor Suzanne Egan say the petition deadline was set correctly.
O'Hara responded, "We have reviewed the documentation with regard to the city charter and it is very clear we were given incorrect dates. Our only recourse is to either step aside and let it go, or take it to court."
Whynott's position
Whynott believes the city charter says the 21-day window for veto referendum efforts to collect signatures to overturn decisions of the city council begins the day after a vote is taken, and that's how he is ruling in this case.
"If they don't agree with that, they can find other redress, because they won't get it from the city. It is over," Whynott added.
Whynott set a deadline of December 26, counting off 21 days from the December 3 council vote and then giving two extra days for Christmas Eve and Christmas.
The petition group, citing a collection of different sections of the city charter, say that the time limit should only begin after an order is signed by the mayor and executed. The mayor's order was executed on December 8, which means the petition deadline would be December 30.
On Friday, December 26, petitioners submitted 1,697 signatures in the clerk's office. The petitioners at that time sought a day's extension due to a series of snowstorms that incapacitated the city the weekend of December 19-21. They cited the storm and street conditions, along with the Christmas holiday, as primary reasons they did not reach 2,095, and continued collecting signatures over the weekend after appealing for more time. By the next Monday, they had collected another 741 signatures. Whynott refused to certify them, however.
TIF background
The city council approved a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) plan for the Gloucester Crossing project on December 3, 2008. The TIF agreement will forgive an estimated $2.3 million in taxes over its first 12 years. The project is also projected to bring the city $3 million in new revenues over that time, while the city would collect taxes on the full assessed value of the property after the 12-year deal expires. The agreement benefits developer Sam Park.
The "No Free Lunch" group calls the TIF district "corporate welfare." The petition says, "We oppose Tax Incentive Financing and any request to our state legislature for approximately $3 million in subsidized infrastructure financing for this project."
Footnotes
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