As most of us know, Oro Valley is awaiting the Az Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of Economic Development Agreements, and we now put the applicable sales tax revenue in an escrow account.
As most of us also know, the $23.2 million a previous Oro Valley Council foolishly gave Vestar for its "ill conceived" Marketplace was the most egregious of all the giveaways.
Now, we have another good reason to point out how ignorant these giveaways are---not that we didn't know it all along.
Has anyone noticed the multitude of "available" signs on what were retail shops throughout Oro Valley? One of these empty storefronts had been Verizon at the Rooney Ranch shopping center on Oracle road south of 1st Avenue? In this case, it doesn't yet say "available,"---only that "we moved."
Although no one was smart enough to say where they moved, the answer is, Vestar's Marketplace.
Why should we care? Simply because anyone who purchased a phone or whatever at Verizon on Oracle road, helped Oro Valley's revenue stream with a 2% sales tax. Well, as of now, that's not the way it is. As a result of the EDA, we only get slightly more than 1%, and Vestar pockets the rest.
You tell me, that's not a losing deal for the Oro Valley taxpayers!
