We understand cities spending tax dollars to fix up blighted areas. We're resigned to the fact that they will open up the taxpayers' wallet to attract economic development.
Now Belleville has come up with a new, dubious reason to give away your money to private operations: Quality of life.
The city this week gave the Plumbers & Pipefitters Local #101 $171,200 worth of sales and property tax breaks on its new hall and training complex. The City Council vote was 14-0, with no discussion during the meeting of whether this is an appropriate use of tax dollars. In our opinion, it is not.
Our complaint isn't with the union but rather with the city's judgment.
Quality of life, unlike blight and economic development, isn't bounded by city limits or other geographic divisions. People in Belleville get quality of life benefits from many
out-of-town opportunities like the St. Louis Cardinals, St. Clair Square and Carlyle Lake. Belleville residents would benefit equally whether the union hall was in Belleville, Swansea or Shiloh.
Incentives of $171,200 aren't much compared with the millions of dollars given for some developments. Still, they're dollars taken away from other basic city services like street repair and public safety. It's more chipping away at the acceptable standards of how your tax dollars can and should be used.
And where will it end? Pretty soon everyone who moves to Belleville is going to get a check courtesy of the taxpayers. Enough.
