Our "beloved" city of Scranton, PA -- highlighted on the NBC comedy series "The Office"-- has again seen its leadership suffering from a chronic case of brain flaccidity. About 5 years ago, after MUCH debate, the city took out a huge loan to build a downtown (Hilton) hotel and convention center at an overall cost of $390M. After being in operation for less than 3 years, the Hilton filed for bankruptcy in lieu of $23M in unpaid debts. None of those debts were tax related, however, because the mayor and his counterparts decided to grant the property tax-free status for 10 years.
The hotel continued to operate, and was recently bought in a sheriff's sale by the creditors. So then the county commissioner (1 of 3 who serve in that role) steps in to save the day!!!
"Frankly, if the building is not functioning, we are not going to receive any taxes anyway." --County commissioner Robert Cordaro on the commissioners' unanimous vote to grant the Hilton an additional 10-year abatement on its building.
That's great. Pass the bill onto us taxpayers, who are having our pockets emptied to pay for a hotel that only fills to 53% capacity, has no conventions and no place for guests to park. Meanwhile, the hotel gets to go on for free, and STILL incurs a $23M deficit!
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