It’s time for TIF reform in New York State. TIF stands for “tax increment financing,” a community development vehicle that is widely used in states other than New York. While we’re one of the 49 states with a TIF law, ours is hardly ever used.

But most of you still don’t know how this works. The idea behind a TIF makes a lot of sense. Let’s take Midtown Plaza as an example. Here’s a prime piece of real estate in the middle of Rochester that is just waiting to be developed. Oh, there’s an asbestos-laden, largely empty, decaying shell in the way? Well, in the tradition of economists everywhere, let’s just assume that the building is gone. THEN we’ll have a nicely located, developable parcel. And that parcel, being developed, will generate tax revenue. And the land around it will generate more tax revenue, as it no longer sits next to a nearly-empty eyesore.

ASSUMING we could get rid of the building. Read the rest of this entry »

The captain has locked the armored cockpit door, the engines whine, and the plane pushes off, rolling away from the gate so another can take its place. Then it stops. After the safety briefing the pilot tells you the bad news — there are 40 or 50 planes ahead of you, all waiting their turn to slip the surly bonds of earth. As if the uncomfortable flight weren’t enough, you are now condemned to spend another hour or two waiting on the ground. Who’s surly now?

For the year ending August 2007, a third of scheduled flights left the John F. Kennedy airport more than 15 minutes late. The average delay for late departures was just over an hour. That’s the average, so for every flight that leaves a tolerable 30 minutes late there is another in which passengers sit and fume for 90.

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