Village Taxpayers May Regret Major League Soccer Team; 3,000 Calories Per Day to Fight Wildfires
Chicago Fire forward Kennedy Igboananike, right, is tackled by Orlando City SC defender Aurelien Collin during the first half of an MLS soccer game on Saturday, June 6, 2015, in Bridgeview, Ill. Nam Y. Huh / AP Photo
Also: Georgia’s 'alarming' climate change report draft and fiscal gloom in Niagara Falls.
Some state and local news from around the country ...
BRIDGEVIEW, Illinois: This suburban Chicago village may be regretting its decision to be the home of the Chicago Fire Major League Soccer team’s stadium. As Bloomberg Business reports, Bridgeview “is saddling taxpayers with more debt as the arena it built almost a decade ago . . . fails to hit the economic goal promised by its proponents.” [Bloomberg Business]
ATLANTA, Georgia: According to a draft of an upcoming report from the state’s Department of Natural Resources, climate change “will eliminate habitat in Georgia for some species by 2050,” according to SaportaReport, which puts the findings in context:
The DNR can hardly be described as reactionary or left-leaning. The department has a history of granting considerable leeway to property owners. That’s one reason the predictions contained in the draft report can be viewed as alarming.
The report constitutes an update to a 2005 Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy. [Saporta Report]
AUSTIN, Texas: Last week, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed legislation requiring regular reviews of state tax incentives, joining 15 other states and the District of Columbia that have changed the way they evaluate tax incentives.
As The Pew Charitable Trusts report:
In taking this action, policymakers in these states are addressing a knowledge gap that has undermined their ability to make informed economic development decisions. Despite the central role that tax incentives play in efforts to create jobs and grow state economies, these programs have often been studied inconsistently or superficially, if at all.
Pew notes that every tax incentive evaluation legislation has received bipartisan support. [Pew Charitable Trusts]
SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, California: There are nearly 2,000 federal, state and local firefighters deployed to the Lake Fire about 90 miles east of Los Angeles. And they need nearly 3,000 calories a day to give them the energy they need to fight the fire. The Press-Enterprise details what it takes to accommodate and fuel firefighters, which includes “[m]eals that will provide calories, proteins, carbohydrates and sodium ...” [The Press-Enterprise]
NIAGARA FALLS, New York: When municipal governments are cash-strapped, they often must resort to desperate measures to fund priority projects. In Niagara Falls, that’s meant that city officials have diverted $100,000 from the city’s tourism “bed tax” funds to cover the costs of a four-week summer camp previously funded by the city’s public schools. [The Buffalo News]
NEXT STORY: Sam Brownback’s Not-a-Tax-Hike Claims; Polygamous Towns’ Water Utility Penalty