Eliminating Complications Using the Right Personal Loan Lenders

High Risk Personal Loans Presents:Eliminating Complications Using the Right Personal Loan LendersThere are so many personal loan lenders out there that is can be a bit overwhelming. Things are scary enough when you are looking for the right loan. Too many lenders to choose from can really throw you for a loop. There are several ways to not get overwhelmed when it comes to lender shopping. Many

Being a Smart Buyer While Searching For the Right Personal Loan Lender

High Risk Personal Loans Presents:Being a Smart Buyer While Searching For the Right Personal Loan LenderFinding the right personal loan lender can be tricky. There are so many out there and they try to entire you with low APR and fast money now. This can be very enticing when you are shopping for a loan. The problem is that not all lenders are the same and you want to be picky when it comes to

High Risk Personal Loans - Loans For Very Poor Credit People

High Risk Personal Loans Presents:High Risk Personal Loans - Loans For Very Poor Credit PeopleIs your credit rating too low? Research says that almost 60 per cent of the UK people have undergone the bad credit rankings at least once in their life. But then, there are many who have repaired their ratings through proper planning. Others got still worse with their debts piling up. The poorer your

Columbia project receives approval from ESDC

Last week the New York Empire State Development Corporation approved Columbia's project plan. The approval clears the path for Columbia to invoke the state's power of eminent domain to acquire property from the two remaining business owners in the 17 acre area, although approval is still needed from the Public Authorities Control Board. One of the holdouts, Nick Sprayregen, who owns Tuck-It-Away storage, has pledged to challenge the use of eminent domain in court. He believes that Columbia unfairly created blight in the project area by buying up properties and failing to maintain them, and that it would work a further unfairness to award Columbia with the use of eminent domain for this behavior. Moreover, Sprayregen has suggested that conflicts of interest exist between Columbia and Empire State Development Corporation that cast doubt on the propriety of ESDC's project approvals. A state court ruling from this summer supports Sprayregen's claims somewhat; although that case involved a freedom of information law request, the judge made clear that there was a conflict of interest present when a private consultant, AKRF, was working on ESDC's blight study at the same time that it was helping to prepare the general project plan for Columbia.

Ask yourselves these questions before apply for Personal Loans

High Risk Personal Loans Presents:Ask yourselves these questions before apply for Personal LoansAs the term applies 'Personal Loan' is a loan that you can apply for personal reasons.Some people apply the loan to fix the house, to buy new furniture or Plasma TV or even to go on a holiday etc. However, some people need personal Loans because they urgently need the money.Whatever the reason you can

How to get a High Risk Personal Loan

High Risk Personal Loans Presents:How to get a High Risk Personal LoanThere are so many people in the world that can be considered as High Risk to obtain a Personal Loan – It could be because of unemployment, divorce, illness, or many others reasons. You might be one of them and if you are, you probably already experienced lots and lots of rejection from the bank in your city.Bank officers at

The L.A. Times' Architecture Review Bashes the Staples Center and L.A.Live

The L.A. Times' architecture critic, Christopher Hawthorne, wrote a piece last week criticizing the second phase of L.A.Live--the companion to the Staples Center that was part of the CBA--for being just one more placeless enclave within the city. "When you get right down to it," Hawthorne says, "[the buildings'] architecture is fundamentally not really architecture at all but an extensive series of armatures on which the developer and its tenants can hang logos, video screens and a sophisticated range of lighting effects."

What You Need To Know About High Risk Personal Loans

High Risk Personal Loans Presents:What You Need To Know About High Risk Personal Loans by Jimmy ChanHigh risk personal loans are loans that are given to people with poor credit history who do not have collateral to secure the loan. High risk personal loans are considered high risk for lenders because there is a greater probability of default than there is with regular loans. However, high risk

Personal Loan 101- What You Absolutely Need to Know

High Risk Personal Loans Presents:Personal Loan 101- What You Absolutely Need to KnowDaughter’s marriage or her studies? Son’s Ambition? Want a House makeover?Stop worrying about ‘money’ to fulfill your cherished dreams now…Avail the opportunity of ‘Personal Loans’.Personal Loan is perhaps a man’s best friend in today’s world. ‘Personal loan’ as the name suggests can be for any personal reason.

Tips to Increase Your Chances of Getting a Personal Loan

High Risk Personal Loans Presents:Tips to Increase Your Chances of Getting a Personal LoanBy Yvonne SuzannahAs our economy is in a recession, bad credits are everywhere. Getting a personal loan can be a bit tricky these days. However, here are some tips you can apply to increase your chances of getting a personal loan.First, you must be familiar with what is in your credit report. Most lenders

Personal Loans After Bankruptcy

High Risk Personal Loans Presents:Personal Loans After BankruptcyBy the way, you can arrange the cash from your relatives, family members, friends and other financial aid as traditional banks or private lenders easily when you have excellent credit score and by giving statements of any person. But being bankruptcy, all the sources of begetting money are blocked. After that some precedents can be

Getting Familiar With Secured Personal Loan

High Risk Personal Loans Presents:Getting Familiar With Secured Personal LoanBy Franklin F SimanjuntakWondering what is the best type of loan for you? You might have done some research to answer this question for yourself but until now you can not figure out which is really the best one. There are so many types of loan but the renowned one is the secured personal loan. So now, I'm about to give

Personal Loans: Fixed Vs. Variable Rates

High Risk Personal Loans Presents:Personal Loans: Fixed Vs. Variable RatesThe issue of whether to choose fixed or variable rates on personal loans has no simple resolutions. Truth is that it all depends on your needs and on market variation expectations as there are also external variables that can affect the loan's affordability. It is important to know how these variables interact in order to

Understanding Your Personal Loan

High Risk Personal Loans Presents:Understanding Your Personal LoanBy Dan Robert CollinsA personal loan is exactly what it says it is; a loan you can use for personal reasons. You can use the loan to buy a new car, to pay for some needed home improvements or even paying off your credit card bills. Whatever you use it for, you need to make sure you understand it and know how to get the best

10 Best Bad Credit Personal Loans

High Risk Personal Loans Presents:10 Best Bad Credit Personal LoansBy Brenda BallentineWhen you need money and a regular bank loan is not an option because you've got bad credit, you need to find a reputable source where you can receive a personal loan to take care of your current cash crunch. The good news is that there are several hidden sources of loan money right under your fingertips that

Understanding Secured Loans and Its Implications

High Risk Personal Loans Presents:Understanding Secured Loans and Its ImplicationsBy John PreestHomeowner secured loans are dubbed as second charge loans or second charge lending. Tracing the roots, a charge was registered on land registry each time a credit is secured on the property. Mortgage lenders get the honor of possessing the first charge. Secured loans have the second charge. This

CBAs as "shakedowns"

From yesterday's New York Post, in an article about the controversial Willets Point redevelopment project:

Outgoing City Councilman Hiram Monserrate and some particularly dubious allies have succeeded in squeezing City Hall for a "community benefit" agreement requiring a vast tract of low-income housing to be included in whatever ultimately rises at Willets Point.

"Community benefit," of course, is a euphemism for "legal shakedown."

From a potential developer's perspective, it represents a pre-negotiated bribe paid to politicians and their allies for the right to attempt to create new jobs, and to bolster the city's revenue base.

But the practice is all the rage in New York these days. Similar requirements accompanied the recent Harlem rezoning deal, and "community benefit" shakedowns were integral to the new Yankee and Shea baseball-stadium projects.

The successful Willets Point developer now must agree to dedicate fully 35 percent of the undertaking to low-income tenants - up from a barely tenable 20 percent in City Hall's original proposal.

...

But Mayor Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Chris Quinn are behind it. And Monserrate and his allies are happy.

Now to find a developer.

Good luck with that.

Disadvantages of a Personal Loan

High Risk Personal Loans Presents:Disadvantages of a Personal LoanBy Jon JamesPersonal Loans are tailored to fit your needs. They help you turn your dreams into reality by giving you the money you need, when you need it, with terms that suit your situation. There are two types of personal loans: secured and unsecured.A secured personal loan may only be taken out if you offer collateral to your

Tips on How to Get a Guaranteed Bad Credit Personal Loan

High Risk Personal Loans Presents:Tips on How to Get a Guaranteed Bad Credit Personal LoanBy Robin O'BrienIf you have bad credit you may think you won't be able to get a guaranteed personal loan. However, you'd be wrong. The key to getting a cash advance loan is to forget about your credit history and concentrate on giving the lender the answers they want.First off, bad credit won't ever prevent

CBA talk in Oro Valley, AZ and Newark, NJ

Just a quick mention that CBAs have recently been discussed as policy tools by officials in Oro Valley, Arizona and Newark, New Jersey.

In Oro Valley, the town council agreed to support the use of CBAs at a meeting in August. The town planning and zoning director suggested that the town could maintain a list of approved mediators/facilitators for CBA negotiations, and a member of the planning and zoning commission emphasized how important it is for the community to have access to development information and to be educated about the development process.

In Newark, Deputy Mayor Stefan Pryor had some comments about community benefits at a panel about "the New Newark." As reported at the AtlanticYardsReport, Pryor emphasized the need to limit subsidies and encourage development that gives back to the community. He asked, "Will a project deliver jobs for our residents? Will a developer commit to a First Source compact where jobs will go to Newark residents first? Small [and] minority business contracting and green building sustainability are among our criteria." While not mentioning CBAs specifically, Pryor's remarks reflect an awareness that development should be accountable to all community members and equitable in its effects.

Judge dismisses suit brought by Pittsburgh United and Northside United

An Allegheny County judge has dismissed an appeal brought by Pittsburgh United and Northside United against the local Stadium Authority (see here). The lawsuit aimed at preventing the authority from selling land between PNC Park and Heniz Field to a hotel developer at an allegedly undervalued price.

The dismissal was based on standing issues, as Judge Joseph M. James found that the groups were not specially injured by the land deal. But the groups disagree with the ruling and have pledged to continue to fight the land sale.

Candidates attend Syracuse ACTS meeting

Syracuse ACTS, a coalition of 26 faith groups, civic organizations and unions, held a meeting on Sunday to gain momentum and support for its social justice campaigns. In addition to CBAs, ACTS is also working to make it easier for people leaving jail to get birth certificates and to get more kids signed up for New York's health insurance plan for children. More than 1,000 people and the three area candidates for the 25th congressional district attended.

Personal Loans And How They Can Affect You

High Risk Personal Loans Presents:Personal Loans And How They Can Affect You While there are many ways to use the money gained from taking out personal loans, there are many other reasons that a loan like this can be beneficial to you. Taking out a large sum of money from a lender, always gives you the power to clear up any past debt or current debt that you want out of the way. These loans

Kingsbridge Armory CBA Campaign update.

For a nice update on the Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment CBA, check out this article from yesterday's Norwood News. The article also gives a good overview of the New York City experience with CBAs.

Shaw District update

In an editorial in Sunday's Washington Post, OneDC raised concerns that affordable housing in the Shaw District might not be built. The concerns center primarily around Parcel 42, which was supposed to be affordable at 60% AMI. Now, the city claims that this level of affordability is no longer feasible. The editorial also mentioned the CBA for a related property, Parcel 33, which is intended to be the site of Radio One, a large radio station targeting primarily black, urban listeners, and other private developments. The CBA "explicitly linked developing 100 percent affordable housing at Parcel 42 to the development of Parcel 33". Yet, "[m]ore than three years later, while the Community Benefits Agreement remains unrealized, the city is moving forward to build market-rate apartments and Radio One's headquarters on Parcel 33."

Knowing How To Apply For A Personal Loan Is Half The Battle

High Risk Personal Loan Presents:Knowing How To Apply For A Personal Loan Is Half The Battle by Paul RogersIf you have come to the realization that you could actually use a personal loan, then it is time for you to sit down and start looking for one. There are so many loans available today, that you can easily become confused as to which loan it is that you need. With loans online, the task of

Pittsburgh's Hill District gets a $3 million donation

Bank of New York Mellon announced this week that it would donate $3 million to Pittsburgh's Hill District. The One Hill Community Benefits Coalition, the Hill House Association and two advisory groups made up of representatives from each, will decide what to do with the money.

Some of the money, however, may go to building a Neighborhood Partnership Program--one of the provisions in the Penguins CBA. According to One Hill, the program will "support community and economic development, education and youth services, preservation and green spaces and drug, alcohol and mental health services in the Hill District." Bank of New York Mellon will also get a significant tax credit for donating the money to the program.

For more information, see here.

Anyone Can Qualify For Small Personal Loans With Bad Credit

High Risk Personal Loan Presents:Anyone Can Qualify For Small Personal Loans With Bad CreditBy Terry EdwardAre you in desperate need of a loan to help with an unexpected financial situation, but feel there is no way anyone will lend you money with your current credit history? The good news is that it is entirely possible to get small personal loans with bad credit. In fact, not only are these

How to Get an Online Personal Loan

High Risk Personal Loans Presents:How to Get an Online Personal LoanNeed to make some purchases but have found yourself a bit short on cash? Why not apply for a personal loan online to help you afford the things that you need to buy now.Cash for Any ReasonThere are many online lenders who specialize in writing personal loans. In fact, the online marketplace for personal loans is increasing

Yonkers Alliance for Community Benefits

In Yonkers last week, the Yonkers Alliance for Community Benefits presented a list of community needs and requests to Struever Fidelco Cappelli, the developer of a proposed $3.1 billion redevelopment project. (See here for more details about the project.) Among the requested benefits: a construction-training program; minimum contracting requirements for minority- and women-owned businesses; affordable housing; an interfaith cafe; and the establishment of funds for public art, child care and after-school programs. Read more here.

CBA Coalition commences litigation in Pittsburgh.

On Friday, CBA coalition members in Pittsburgh initiated litigation to stop the development of a hotel. The suit claims that the Stadium Authority sold the land to the hotel developer at "substantially below market value" and that the sale violated the open meetings laws.

The groups have indicated that they will likely drop the litigation if the developers agree to a community benefits agreement. If that turns out to be the case, the CBA will take the form of a settlement agreement (similar to the recently finalized Dearborn Street CBA).

News coverage of the lawsuit is available from the Post-Gazette, the Tribune Review, and KDKA TV.

More on the Dearborn Street CBA.

(Seattle Times)

The Seattle Times ran an article about the recently completed CBA on Tuesday. The article discusses some of the issues that the coalition faced during negotiations, including internal conflicts about how involved labor groups should have been in the coalition, and conflicts over the suitability of the project for the neighborhood.

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels also released a statement on Tuesday regarding the CBA:

“I applaud the parties for coming to an agreement on the Dearborn Goodwill project. This Community Benefits Agreement is a new approach, bringing together the interests of community, housing, labor and business.

“I believe strongly that affordable housing must be an essential part of this project. I will recommend that the City Council require 400 units of housing, including at least 200 units of housing affordable to households earning below 80 percent of median income for rental units and below median income for owner-occupied units. The recommendation will also include a provision that proceeds from the street vacation be invested to benefit the surrounding neighborhoods through open space, transportation projects or other cultural and community facilities.”

Seattle's first CBA

The Dearborn Street Coalition has completed a CBA, following two years of negotiations (see here for background).

Here's a press release from Puget Sound Sage:

Seattle’s first Community Benefits Agreement struck between Developer and Community Coalition

Agreement defines benefits developer will provide to the community in the 10-acre Dearborn Project on the Goodwill site

Seattle—After almost two years of negotiations, an agreement has been struck between the Dearborn Street Coalition for Livable Neighborhoods and Dearborn Street Developers LLC on a $300-million project, slated to be built on a 10-acre site at the crossroads of Seattle’s most economic and ethnically diverse communities – including Little Saigon, the Central District, the International District and North Rainier Valley.

“This project has come a long way toward ensuring that neighborhood families will benefit from the economic growth this project will bring. More workers will now earn a livable wage and live in affordable housing and the development will better meet the needs of the people who work and live here,” said David West, executive director of Puget Sound Sage, a coalition member.

“For many service workers, the lack of quality jobs and affordable housing are the two biggest challenges of living in Seattle,” said West. “This agreement addresses both problems, moving us towards economic justice for working families.

Sage was joined by neighborhood groups and Little Saigon small business leaders in negotiating key sections of the agreement. The Dearborn coalition is comprised of business, neighborhood, labor, faith, housing, environmental, ethnic and other community organizations, all deeply concerned with how growth and change shape Seattle’s neighborhoods.

“This CBA – the first in the Pacific Northwest – gives community groups like Jackson Place and others a voice in shaping their neighborhoods,” said Maura Deering, a member of the Jackson Place Community Council Board of Directors. “We are glad to have played a role in setting this type of precedent.”

Jermaine Smiley of Laborers Local 242, another coalition member, commented, “Making sure this project provides living wage jobs and benefits is benefit to the entire community, not to mention affordable housing at a time we need it the most.”

“This agreement is a step in the right direction for neighborhoods such as Little Saigon where development pressure is high. The agreement helps balance development interests and neighborhood interests,” said Quang H. Nguyen, executive director of the Washington Vietnamese American Chamber of Commerce, a coalition member.

The Dearborn project, with 600,000-square feet of retail and 500 units of housing, is located between South Dearborn and Weller streets at Rainier Ave. Among the items in this unprecedented agreement, Dearborn Street Developers LLC have agreed to:

• Build 200 units of affordable housing in the project, including 50 family units;
• Contribute $200,000 to mitigate traffic impacts in the Little Saigon and Jackson place neighborhoods in addition to the street improvements that the developer will pay for as traffic mitigation immediately around the project;
• Follow fair labor standards by hiring construction contractors that pay prevailing wages and provide health and retirement benefits; and by ensuring that 15% of all work hours are performed by apprentices. The contractors will also participate in minority/women-owned business programs and strive to hire local residents through pre-apprentice programs;
• Ensure grocery and drug stores agree to stay neutral if employees decide to unionize. Janitors, security officers and other employees of the development will be covered by the same labor standards;
• Offer below-market rents on 5,000 square feet of space in the project to community nonprofits at a cost of $1 million;

· Contribute $200,000 for the design of a community center in Little Saigon, and $600,000 over 12 years to support the Little Saigon commercial district;

• Use environmentally sustainable building practices;

The project still needs the approval of the Seattle City Council, which must approve a site rezone and street vacations. The developer will have to pay the city for the street vacations, and the coalition and developer will ask that the City of Seattle invest those funds in neighborhoods around the project.

Seattle Goodwill, a nonprofit organization that helps low-income and disadvantaged people prepare for and secure jobs so they may achieve self-sufficiency, has been housed at Dearborn and Rainier since 1931. Goodwill’s main building was constructed in 1946.

“This agreement is a win for the community, a win for Goodwill, and a win for the developer,” said Goodwill President and CEO Ken Colling. “We are very excited because we have been trying for more than 10 years to replace our worn-out facilities.”

Under the agreement, 200 of the 500 units of housing in the project will be affordable units. Of these units, 120 will be affordable to families making no more than 50% of the city’s median income, which is $32,550 for a two-person household. The other 80 units will be affordable to families making no more than 80% of the median income. The Seattle Housing Authority will build the affordable units.

The project will have tree-lined streets, two interior plazas and open space on the perimeter. The developer will build the project using environmentally sustainable methods, such as green roofs and permeable sidewalks.

Columbia Legal Services Seattle attorney Andrew Kashyap assisted the Dearborn Coalition in the complex work of analyzing and negotiating the Dearborn community benefit agreement.

Community benefit agreements (CBAs) have long been used by community coalitions in major cities in California to improve housing and jobs. The Dearborn agreement is the first fully enforceable agreement of its kind in the Northwest. For more information on CBAs, visit http://www.communitybenefits.org/, the website of the Partnership for Working Families.

Budgeted Technology Transfer Payments Not Binding

Substance and Form may or may not lead to discrepancies, but comparing real facts to projections is a different story. Reality most likely will present departures from estimates, even if prepared on a best efforts basis.
Oleoducto Trasandino Argentina S.A. (an Argentine subsidiary of A&C Pipeline Holding Company, in turn owned by YPF and Empresa Nacional del Petróleo -ENAP-) that operates a transandean oil pipeline transporting crude oil from Argentina to Chile, anticipated to pay an "x" amount to a foreign technology transfer provider and ended up paying "x + n".
Which of the two amounts should control? What are the consequences for withholding tax purposes? What is the treatment of the difference? What implications arise from a deductibility standpoint? Are there any transfer pricing safeguards?
Companies seeking to take a deduction and to get reduced withholding tax under domestic or Treaty law on payments for technology transfer must register an agreement with the Argentine Patent & Trademark Office (INPI).
The registration process requires to meet certain substance and form requirements, including payment of the 0.02% INPI rate on the self assessed expected nominal economic value of the agreement (i.e., for the full term), and then the INPI validates the documentation and is ready to issue a certificate.
Under the Argentine IRS approach, the taxpayer calculated best estimate for the INPI rate, implied a cap to the amount eligible for a reduced withholding tax rate.
The technology transfer agreement registered by Oleoducto Trasandino contained variable retribution based on daily and hourly rates, as opposed to a fixed payment stream.
The company calculated the reduced withholding on the actual amount paid under the agreement, which exceeded the prediction made at the INPI registration stage.
The taxpayer was assessed a tax deficiency using the default withholding tax rate on the gap between the projected versus the actual amount paid.
After confronting the Fisc position, Oleoducto Trasandino was awarded a favorable judgment in all three judicial instances, the most recent by the Federal Supreme Court (in re: Oleoducto Trasandino Argentina SA c DGI, CJSN, April 8, 2008). The tribunals concluded that the forecasted amount must be disregarded and therefore the excess amount is also subject to the reduced withholding tax rate.
The Supreme Court decision was grounded on the lack of a legal requirement to register a new agreement if the actual figures exceed the anticipated amount.
No matter how mandatory and what projections are made at the INPI registration phase, the actual amount paid controls for withholding tax purposes.
Under domestic law, deduction on payments for technical or financial assistance rendered from outside of Argentina is subject to the following cap:
3 percent on the sales or revenue taken as a contractual basis for compensating the advice;
5 percent on the amount of investment effectively made as a result of the advice.
Based on the facts and circumstances of the Oleoducto Trasandino case, the Supreme Court did not address the deductibility issue on technology transfer payments and whether any of these limitations would be applicable.
However, the decision implicitly convalidates compensation policies based on daily and hourly rates for cross border services.
Accordingly, the tax planning lesson is that transfer pricing policies for intra-group services based on variable factors, for example based on time (days, hours) will be deemed acceptable. Those based on percentages (i.e., on sales, revenue, investments) -if the services are rendered from abroad- will be subject to the 3 or 5 percent limitations, as the case maybe.
All posts will be appreciated, as well as comments by phone at +5411 4776 8200, by email at daniel@enterpricing.com or at http://www.enterpricing.net/contactus.htm.
Daniel Rybnik, Partner, EnterPricing
www.enterpricing.com

One Hill Coalition signs CBA

While the One Hill CBA was approved a while back, it was formally signed yesterday.

Check out the video on the Post-Gazette website.

From the Pittsburgh Tribune Review:

Hill to get $2 million aid for grocery, more

Hill District residents will get $2 million for a grocery store, first dibs on jobs at the new Uptown arena and a chance to lay out their vision for the neighborhood under a community benefits agreement to be finalized this morning.

The contract among One Hill Neighborhood Coalition, the Penguins and government agencies means the arena will provide benefits for its most immediate neighbors, negotiators said.

"It's very positive," said Carl Redwood, One Hill's chairman. "If there's any downside, some people feel it should be more positive, but it's still positive."

Politicians, Penguins officials and community leaders are scheduled to attend a signing ceremony for the agreement at Freedom Corner in the Hill District, a neighborhood of about 17,000 people.

Negotiations took place for more than a year, beginning after the Penguins' March 2007 deal to stay in Pittsburgh. Construction on the arena between Fifth and Centre avenues began with a groundbreaking ceremony last week.

Penguins officials have said they want to correct mistakes made by public agencies a half-century ago when residential blocks were leveled to make way for Mellon Arena.

"The Penguins organization and the Mario Lemieux Foundation always have believed in giving back to our community," team President David Morehouse said. "And we believe that the new arena project will be a catalyst for growth and development in this very important section of the city -- impacting not only the Hill but also our neighbors in Uptown and Downtown."

The agreement includes:

• $1 million each from the Penguins and the city's Urban Redevelopment Authority for a Hill District grocery store. Kuhn's, a locally owned chain of eight supermarkets, has proposed a full-service grocery at Centre Avenue and Dinwiddie Street, and Save-A-Lot, based in St. Louis, has proposed a smaller discount operation at the same location.

• A First Source Employment Center that will give neighborhood residents the first chance to apply for jobs created at the arena and through redevelopment of the 28-acre Mellon Arena site. The city and Allegheny County agreed to provide $150,000 a year for at least two years to start the program. The Penguins agreed to create jobs that pay wages of $12 to $30 an hour plus benefits.

• The creation of a master planning committee that has until Feb. 19, 2010, to come up with guidelines for development of the Hill District and Uptown. The committee would include four people appointed by One Hill and five by local officials, although no decision would take effect if more than two people vote against it. The Penguins agreed not to submit development plans for the Mellon Arena site until after this process ends, although the team could build a hotel near the arena.

• The city, county and URA agreed to work with Pittsburgh YMCA to build a community center in the neighborhood.

• The Penguins agreed to pay $500,000 a year for six to 12 years for a Neighborhood Partnership Program, focused on development and social services such as treatment for drug and alcohol addiction. The county would conduct a two-year review of social services.

Separately, backers of the planned North Shore casino have agreed to invest $3 million over five years for development projects in the Hill District. Redwood said casino operators likely would control that money and it would go directly to the recipients, rather than to a neighborhood development agency.

The negotiating process itself might be the greatest lasting impact of having the agreement, said Evan Frazier, president and CEO of Hill House Association, a lead negotiator for One Hill.

"We didn't get everything in every category, but there were elements of each," Frazier said.

The agreement goes a long way toward helping the community rebuild -- in physical structure, as well as jobs and social services, said negotiator Gabe Morgan, president of the Pennsylvania State Council of Service Employees International Union.

"You can always have a conversation about what's enough," Morgan said. "They certainly got much more of a commitment to building that community and to making sure that development positively impacts the community."

A Consumers Guide To Personal Loans

High Risk Personal LoansA Consumers Guide To Personal LoansA personal loan is simply a generic term for the average loan. It is the process of obtaining money from a bank with hopes to repay the debt within the following months or years. Loans can often give consumers more stress than they would like to have in their lives- often giving many uneducated consumers endless debt and financial

How To Get Personal Loans For People With Bad Credit

High Risk Personal Loans presents:How To Get Personal Loans For People With Bad CreditPersonal loans for people with bad credit are available. There are a number of opportunities for those who are looking for money that do not have the highest scores out there. You'll find that these individuals are able to get funds for purchasing a home, for consolidating debt and for starting a home business.

Personal Loans - What You Need To know

High Risk Personal Loans Present:Personal Loans - What You Need To knowA personal loan is a kind of obligation or debt that is generally made for family or domestic purposes. It is not meant for business, or for long duration mortgage use. The financer lends money to the borrower, and the borrower needs to return the full amount to the lender, but not necessarily on a regular basis. It is an

Check List for Intra Group Services Received in Argentina

Deduction of intra group services charged from outside of Argentina is subject to a high level of scrutiny by authorities, and again, the "form vs susbtance" issue plays a key role.
The following risk-assessment exercise helps estimate the likelihood -from 0 to 100- of a successful deduction of intra group charges received for corporate income tax purposes.
Think about a situation close to you and grade each item from 0 to 10 (0 is total lack of compliance and 10 is fully compliant) and then sum-up all the individual points.
1. Invoices for the services received are issued to the name of the domestic taxpayer contain explicit references to the services rendered and are duly registered in the local accounting and tax records.
2. Compliance with payment requirements required by Argentine Central Bank and IRS regulations (e.g., foreign exchange payment protocols, withholding tax, affidavit signed and sealed by the relevant Treaty competent authority, VAT on imports of services, etc.).
3. Services Agreements (and further amendments) signed in presence of a notary public (on or before its effective date) and apostilled (if signed outside of Argentina), translated to Spanish by a Certified translator and legalized before the Argentine Public Translator Council containing description of services, compensation and further details.
4. Technology transfer agreements registration with the Argentine Patent & Trademark Office (INPI) in cases of core industry services (e.g., those considered Cost of Goods Sold). Add 10 points to your score card if not Technology transfer agreement.
5. Cost sharing agreements allocations not based on pro rata distributions. Add 10 points to your score card if not Cost sharing agreement.
6. A hard copy folder for each service rendered containing at least the following:
Identification (name and position) of the persons involved.
Date of beginning and ending of the service.
Place of performance.
Time incurred by every person involved.
Detailed and complete report for every service provided with date, stamp and signature of a representative of the foreign entity.
Copies of letters, e-mails and minutes of conferences calls or meetings.
All the documentation, work files and other information that were used or prepared with the purpose of rendering the services described in the Agreement.
7. Compliance with transfer pricing documentation and information requirements:
In particular: Form 742 (six-month period) / Form 743 (annual) / Transfer Pricing Report certified by an independent public accountant and legalized before the Accountants Council / Financial Statements / Transfer Pricing Study using Argentine taxpayer as tested party / Further documentation to sustain transfer pricing policy. Add 10 points to your score card if service provider is not related, deemed related or located in low or nil tax jurisdiction.
8. Detailed list and documentation of refundable expenses: Travel tickets / Hotel expenses / Other accommodation expenses / Mailing expenses / Other refundable expenses.
9. Argentine taxpayer Board of Directors records or equivalent containing the discussion on benefits and approval of Services Agreements and actual services received.
10. Pray (hope it helps!)
What is your total score?
The following score card considers the context of an audit in progress (i.e., it does not evaluate the likelihood of being audited) and high professional standards at the taxpayer defense level:
90-100: Remote risk of deduction related assessment and high chances to succeed in final Court decision
70-89: Possible risk of deduction related assessment and high to medium chances to succeed in final Court decision
50-60: Possible risk of deduction related assessment and medium to low chances to succeed in final Court decision
30-49: Probable risk of deduction related assessment and medium to low chances to succeed in final Court decision
10-29: Probable risk of deduction related assessment and low chances to succeed in final Court decision
0-9: Danger is knocking on the door!
So, what are the chances of taking the deduction in the specific situation you are evaluating? If the possibilities are low, bad news in this case could be worst (e.g., not even partial amounts could be written off and penalties, interest and litigation costs would apply) but also potentially not that bad (e.g., withholding tax paid could be offsetable against the corporate income tax liability under certain circumstances).
The question is whether the price to pay to mitigate the risk justifies the greater costs of a potential challenge.
All posts will be appreciated, as well as comments by phone at +5411 4776 8200, by email at daniel@enterpricing.com or at http://www.enterpricing.net/contactus.htm.
Daniel Rybnik, Partner, EnterPricing
www.enterpricing.com

Thursday's CBA news.

• Organizers in Pacoima finalized a CBA for a new shopping center. The CBA has a good local hiring program and also prohibits the developer from renting space to check cashing companies. The project itself will benefit the community by improving what's now a brownfield, and by bringing jobs and new retail to the city. See Kerry Cavanaugh, Mayor Saw Potential in Costco, Pacoima Pairing, The Daily News of Los Angeles, Jul. 28, 2008. For an update on the project, see this January 2009 press release from the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency.
  
• In Richmond, the city council hasn't wasted any time getting the CBA fund committee set up--they appointed themselves.
• And the Yankees Stadium Community Benefits fund, although it was delayed it getting set up, has finally given out some major grants. The New York Daily News reports that they gave out $261,000 to 15 grant recipients yesterday.
  

Some criticism of the Chevron CBA

Gayle McLaughlin, the Mayor of Richmond, and Tom Butt, a city council member, contributed an editorial to the Contra Costa Times yesterday criticizing the recent approval of the Chevron refinery upgrades. They had this to say about the so-called CBA:

The Community Benefits Agreement was negotiated between members of the council majority and Chevron and sprung on a few other surprised City Council members minutes before the July 15 hearing.

No public input or even public comment was allowed. Although gigantic flaws in the agreement came to light under questioning by other council members, the majority shut their ears and soldiered on to adoption.

Examples of egregious provisions are as follows:

• $14.6 million for "Alternative Energy Funding" is in fact a simple business venture by Chevron. Chevron will spend this amount for renewable energy projects producing electricity it intends to sell to the city, retaining greenhouse gas offsets and tax credits for itself.

• $6 million for "Environmental Benefits" will not come to the city at all. The "Environmental Benefits" are in fact watered-down versions of legitimate mitigations removed by the council majority from the conditional use permit. The money would be used by Chevron to pay for things like tank domes to reduce VOCs and ground level air monitoring, which the original CUP would have required anyway.

• $5 million for the Bay Trail will not come to the city either. In the majority's version, $3 million of it is Chevron's grossly overestimated value of a small piece of land for a trail easement, and $2 million is for security upgrades along the trail to benefit Chevron, not the city. There is no money for the original CUP requirement for Chevron to donate right of way and pay for construction of a Bay Trail connection to the Point San Pablo Peninsula, replacing a dangerous bike route along I-580 that resulted in one death and one serious injury two years ago.

Stripped of all its scams, the Community Benefits Agreement is worth maybe $6 million, about the same amount Chevron used to buy off the City Council in 1994, not adjusted for inflation, which would make it even worse.

Richmond has been taken to the cleaners by this secret deal which sacrifices our health, environmental justice and democratic processes for a few paltry million dollars.

More on the Columbia expansion.

The Observer ran an article yesterday, Zero Hour in West Harlem, that looks at the coming eminent domain battle in West Harlem.

Also see Will Columbia Take Manhattanville?, which was published a few months ago, for background on the opposition. (Although I don't agree with the statement in this article that "relying on negotiating a community-benefits agreement before decisions about land use and zoning are finished amounts to 'purchasing' planning decisions." In the Columbia expansion case, where the CBA was negotiated primarily by local elected officials, this might be somewhat true. But that's not the way that CBAs are supposed to work--land use decisions and CBAs should inform each other, but neither should eclipse the other.)

More on the Chevron refinery CBA.

Here's a copy of the so-called CBA entered into between the City of Richmond and Chevron last week (so-called because, like the Yankee Stadium CBA, no community groups helped to negotiate it).



The agreement sets out more than $60 million in benefits, but it's a bit light on the oversight provisions (there should be provisions for public oversight, and at a minimum the agreement should have provided for public dissemination of reports prepared by Chevron and the city). There are also no real benchmarks--no requirements for local hiring or goals for the number of people that the city hopes to enroll in pre apprenticeship programs.

Interestingly, like the Yankee Stadium agreement, a good portion of the money ($10 million) is going to be put into a community trust fund to be administered by a committee consisting of city and Chevron appointees. Hopefully this committee can avoid some of the problems that the Yankee Stadium fund advisory panel has had with delayed distribution of funding.

Substance vs Form in Transfer Pricing

Latin American tax authorities rely heavily on the formality requirements, which are based on the opposite to the bona fide principle, which assumes the good intentions of the parties.
Three cases where recently decided by Argentine Courts dealing with the "substance vs form" in intra-group financing and services.
In Compañía Ericsson S.A.C.I. (Federal Tax Court, August 15, 2007), the subsidiary of the Swedish telecommunications multinational, obtained a loan from one of the group’s financial vehicles, whose terms and conditions, but for the formal instrumentation, were unquestionably arm's-length.
The loan was formalized in a memo disclosing the parties' names, purpose, amount, and interest rate, but lacked the signature of the borrower. The Argentine Internal Revenue Service re-characterized the debt as equity on the grounds that independent parties would have met certain formalities where the taxpayer did not.
Even though the Tax Court in this case reversed the assessment based on the prevalence of substance over form for transfer pricing purposes (following sections 1.10, 1.28 and 1.29 of the OECD Guidelines), the message between the lines was that under the tax authority's approach, meeting all civil law and administrative formalities seems to play a very prevalent role (for example: entering into a written contract, signing before a notary, obtaining the Apostille according to The Hague Convention, translation of documents not in Spanish by certified public translator, certification of transfer pricing report by certified public accountant, legalization of professionals' signatures with the relevant professional association, registration with the Patent and Trademark office, etc).
Litoral Gas S.A. (Administrative Litigation Court of Appeals, Room II, April 17, 2008), the natural gas distribution utility ultimately owned by Suez-Tractebel from Belgium and Techint from Argentina, also was granted an intra-group loan, but the outcome rendered by the Court of Appeals confirmed the “form over substance” approach used by the Fisc.
The interest deduction was denied to the taxpayer, decision that was neither grounded on thin capitalization nor on transfer pricing evaluations.
Based on expert witness opinion delivered to the tribunal, the instrumentation by the company of the agreement evidencing the loan with Tractebel from Belgium and Netherlands did not meet the formality requirements to be considered a specific date valid vis a vis third parties (according to Civil Code Section 1035: filing the document with a court or public body, recognition before a notary and two witnesses, transcription in any official record, death of any of the signers).
Here is another example. J.W. Thompson Argentina S.A. (Administrative Litigation Court of Appeals, August 24, 2006), the subsidiary of the U.S. advertising agency, incurred various expenses outside of Argentina (for advertising materials, travel, and shipping among other things) that vendors invoiced to the U.S. headquarters, which in turn attached a copy to "advice memos" and passed them through to the local entity.
The Court of Appeals affirmed the Tax Court decision denying deductibility of charges not invoiced directly to the Argentine taxpayer or included in "advice memos," as not meeting the formality standards to be considered as serious evidence of the expenses.
All posts will be appreciated, as well as comments by phone at +5411 4776 8200, by email at daniel@enterpricing.com or at http://www.enterpricing.net/contactus.htm.
Daniel Rybnik, Partner, EnterPricing
www.enterpricing.com

The Columbia expansion moves ahead: eminent domain and more concessions

On Tuesday, Nick Sprayregen, the owner of Tuck-it-Away Storage and one of the last property owners in the Columbia expansion footprint not to reach a deal with the university, got a win in state court. The case, Tuck-it-Away Associates, LP v. Empire State Development Corporation, involved a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request, and the appellate division ruled that Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) could not withhold documents prepared in connection with its blight study because the consultant that prepared the study has also been working with Columbia. ESDC had claimed that the documents fell within the FOIL exception for intra- or inter-agency documents, but the court held that "such communications lose their exemption if there is reason to believe that the consultant is communicating with the agency in its own interest or on behalf of another client whose interests might be affected by the agency action addressed by the consultant." In that regard, the court found that the consultant, AKRF, was acting as an advocate for Columbia and that the documents, therefore, were not exempt from disclosure.

Nevertheless, the decision only means that ESDC will have to disclose additional documents to the property owners. And even though the court was rather critical of AKRF's working for both Columbia and ESDC, ESDC announced yesterday that it had commissioned a second blight study prepared by a different firm (although still paid for by Columbia). ESDC also adopted the General Project Plan (GPP) (pdf) for the expansion yesterday. The GPP relies on ESDC's approval of the blight studies, both of which found that "the area surrounding the project’s 17 buildings was mainly characterized by aging, poorly maintained and functionally obsolete industrial buildings, with little indication of recent reinvestment to revive their generally deteriorated conditions." With this finding, ESDC and Columbia are set to kick off any eminent domain proceedings needed to acquire the last few holdout properties in the footprint.

Additionally, ESDC also revealed yesterday that Columbia has agreed to more concessions:

• "$20 million in funds for the Harlem Community Development Corporation to focus on community development and planning.
• $1 million for expanded CUNY Health Science and Medical Technician training.
• Annual undergraduate and Lifelong Learner scholarships for area residents, including local NYCHA tenants.
• A goal of 40% MWL workforce participation for construction jobs related to project.
• Provision of a mobile dental center for preschool children, space for senior service programming and a center on disease education for children K-12.
• Columbia University will also partner with local middle and high schools to develop and implement math and science course support."

More benefits are a good thing for the community, but I'd still like to see the CBA that's supposed to be negotiated.

For the New York Times' coverage, see here. The Observer has some commentary on this flurry of events too. See here and here.

More on the Chevron plant in Richmond

On June 19, the Richmond Planning Commission approved of Chevron's plans to upgrade its refinery, but it attached about 70 provisions to the approval. Both Chevron and its opponents appealed this decision to the City Council, which voted 5-4 yesterday to approve Chevron's plan. The City Council rejected project opponents' demands for a crude cap, which has been a contentious issue for months.

Apparently the CBA proposed for the project also generated some controversy. The last time I posted about this project, the Planning Commission had removed the CBA provisions from the plan, claiming that it was unfair. However, the City Council approved the CBA by a 6-1 vote. This may, in fact, have been a new CBA, since one of the council members claimed that "it first came to public light 20 hours ago."

The CBA, according to news reports, includes:

• $6.8 million for job training and placement;
  
• $11.3 million for public safety;
  
• $6 million for a local health clinic;
  
• $10 million for local nonprofits;
• $5 million for the Bay Trail;
• $14.6 million for alternative energy programs; and
  
• $5 million for environmental mitigation.

The Mayor criticized the CBA because, apparently, the agreement was negotiated between Chevron officials and some city officials, but the full city council and the community at large were not at the table. Looking more like a New York CBA than a California one, opponents argued that the CBA was a "bribe" and "guilt money."

Environmental groups are poised to file a lawsuit to prevent the upgrades from going forward.

Neighborhood group seeks (and fails) to get a CBA requirement attached to rezoning

Neighborhood organizers in the town of Madison, Wisconsin, sought to have a CBA requirement attached to a rezoning petition on Friday night, but they left the meeting agreeing not to oppose the rezoning. The rezoning will allow the development of the $120 million Novation campus, and the developer is hoping to get approvals quickly in order to ensure the retention of tenants.

County officials refused to attach any CBA conditions to the rezoning, explaining that this would be illegal contract zoning. (Contract zoning refers to situations where the zoning authority agrees to grant a rezoning or not based on whether the petitioner agrees to certain conditions. While a rezoning conditioned on the negotiation of a CBA would almost certainly be found to be contract zoning, it has long been settled law in Wisconsin (and elsewhere) that a zoning authority may consider private restrictions on the land when deciding whether or not to rezone property. See State ex rel. Zupancic v. Schimenz, 46 Wis. 2d 22 (1970). So, the neighborhood group should have been pushing the developer to negotiate, rather than pushing the county to force the developer to negotiate.)

By the end of the meeting on Friday, the neighborhood group had agreed not to oppose the rezoning petition, and the developer had promised to engage the neighborhood group in its community development plans. One of the group's primary issues is having a community garden space, and the developer agreed to consider extending the lease on the current garden.

The campaign for a CBA for Albany's proposed convention center

Here in Albany, NY, (where I live) the Coalition for Environmental, Educational and Economic Justice (CEEEJ) is trying to make sure that the new convention center, if built, will have a CBA attached to it.

The Albany Convention Center Authority is seeking about $190 million from the state, and a study of the project's viability will be finished next month. Without the additional funding, the convention center might not be built.

This CBA will be fairly unique because the Albany Convention Center Authority is a government entity, and not a private developer. Although other CBAs, notably the LAX agreement, have involved public authorities, this will be the first in New York.

Campaign launched to reform Atlantic Yards governance

Yesterday, elected officials and community leaders launched a campaign to reform the governance of the Atlantic Yards development. The campaign centers around proposed state legislation that would create a development trust, made up of high-level political appointees, and a stakeholder council appointed by local officials. For more, see here and here.

It's hard to say whether this type of development trust might be successful in the Atlantic Yards situation, but the proposal does point out the the oversight provisions in the CBA have not succeeded in satisfying stakeholders and officials.

More on Atlantic Yards, the IRS and tax exempt bonds

Norman Oder at the Atlantic Yards Report explains that, while Forest City Ratner plans on going ahead with the arena even if the IRS changes the rules relating to tax exempt bonds, losing the bonds would probably result in a loss of about $165 million to the developer.

The Atlantic Yard Report also has two stories about the IRS rules, for those of you interested in the nitty gritty of the bonding issues and why it's been called a tax loophole. See As IRS moves to close "loophole," ESDC fights for AY funding scheme and Rep. Kucinich asks IRS, Treasury to hold off on approving financing deal for AY arena, other projects.

Gentrification in Harlem

The Times has another story today discussing gentrification in Harlem--one of the criticisms aimed at Columbia for its plans to expand into Manhattanville and one of the reasons that the community has been interested in negotiating a CBA with the university.

Atlantic Yards & Yankee Stadium face difficulties with tax-exempt financing

A few years ago, New York City started using tax exempt bonds in an "aggressively creative way" to provide cheap financing for large economic development projects. But that might change under proposed IRS rules, which, if adopted, will apply to bonds issued after February 2007. State and city officials are trying to prevent the rule change, or, failing that, obtain waivers for the Yankees, the Mets, and the Atlantic Yards arena.

Both the Yankees and the Mets have relied extensively on the tax exempt bonds in financing their new stadiums, and they're lobbying to ensure that they'll be exempted from the new rules, if passed. This is especially important for the Yankees, as the team has expressed a need for additional financing. (The picture to the right shows the new Yankee Stadium, on the right, next to the old one. Photo by Mary Alteffer from the AP.)

The story is slightly different for the Atlantic Yards arena, however. The developer, Forest City Ratner Cos., has long been planning on using the tax exempt bonds to finance the $950 million facility (not to mention the rest of the project), but no bonds have actually been issued for the project. Although Bruce Ratner has admitted that the rule change is going to be an obstacle for the development, he remains optimistic and claims that constriction could begin in the fall. (The photo shows part of the project footprint, including the MTA's Vanderbilt Yards, looking north west toward Atlantic Ave and Flatbush. Photo by Chang W. Lee for the Times.)

The Times paints a more pessimistic picture of the project's future:

The Internal Revenue Service initially approved the use of the bonds for the ballparks, but quickly issued a proposal in 2006 to tighten the rules governing the use of tax-exempt bonds so that it would be more difficult, and perhaps impossible, for this kind of financing to be used again by profitable, private enterprises like professional sports teams.

Now state and city officials say the proposed rules are jeopardizing what is planned to be the city's next big sports palace: the $950 million Barclays Center, an 18,000-seat basketball arena for the Nets that is the centerpiece of the huge residential and commercial complex in Brooklyn known as Atlantic Yards.
...
The $4 billion Atlantic Yards project already faces delays because of litigation, a sluggish economy, the lack of commercial tenants and the reluctance of lenders to finance large real estate developments.
...
When the project was approved in December 2006, Mr. Ratner optimistically indicated that its first phase — the arena, an office tower, a retail complex and three residential buildings — would be completed by 2010. But under a financing agreement completed nine months later, he was given 12 years to complete the first phase.
The economic picture has changed significantly. This year, Mr. Ratner acknowledged that he would not begin construction of the office tower, once known as Miss Brooklyn, until he had an anchor tenant, which could take years.
...
Real estate executives say that if Mr. Ratner cannot get tax-exempt financing for the arena, it will make the project significantly harder.

For more on this story, see the New York Times article and the Atlantic Yards Report posting.

News of the financing problems only adds to the list of delays facing the Atlantic Yards project. As I've mentioned before, communities considering CBAs need to be aware of the vagaries of the development process, since, in many cases, the community won't benefit until the project is well on its way to completion.

Pittsburgh is becoming a CBA town

Continental Real Estate Cos., a developer hoping to build a hotel and entertainment complex between Heinz Field (the structure on the left in the picture) and PNC Park (on the right), is struggling with local authorities in a dispute over an option agreement involving the land (see here for another account of the story). The Stadium Authority, which owns the land, believes that the option has expired, but Continental has stated that it's going to press on with the project. "Well, we're going to sue them" (meaning the Stadium Authority), Continental's chairman said.

But the Mayor and Stadium Authority Executive Director are much more interested in negotiating than going to court. There will certainly be much wrangling about the price--Continental wants to pay about $1.3 million, the price it claims was set in the option agreement, even though the property may be worth much more. But Pittsburgh wants the development to happen, especially because the city expects that the project will generate a good bit of tax revenue.

It looks like a CBA will be part of the negotiations too though. Community groups in Pittsburgh have been rallying for a CBA concerning the project, and organizations like One Hill, Pittsburgh United and North Side United have shown their strength and tenacity in negotiating to get community benefits. The dispute over the option agreement also gives the community a fair bit of leverage to get the developer on board to negotiate a CBA.

Columbia expansion update

The Times reported yesterday that Columbia has reached an agreement to buy out one of the few remaining property owners in its plan footprint. As part of the agreement, Columbia will pay for relocating Anne Z. Whitman's business, a moving and storage company, from West Harlem to Washington Heights.

Ms. Whitman had previously stated that she would not agree to a buy out. The agreement leaves only two holdouts: a family that operates a service station and Nick Sprayregen, who owns 5 buildings with about 300,000 square feet of space, most of which is devoted to his Tuck-It-Away self storage business. Eminent domain seems likely to enter into the mix soon.

There's still no word on the CBA, however.

A CBA for San Francisco's Hunter Point

From Julian Gross, the director of the Community Benefits Law Center:

Last week, the San Francisco Labor Council, ACORN, and the San Francisco Organizing Project entered into a community benefits agreement regarding a major development in the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood of San Francisco.

Under the CBA, Lennar, a national housing developer, agreed that if the project moves forward, Lennar will:

• ensure that 32% of housing units built within the project are affordable, at a range of income levels;

• provide over $27 million in housing assistance funds targeted to neighborhood residents, including down payment assistance enabling additional units to be sold below market rates;

• provide over $8.5 million in job training funds targeted to neighborhood residents;

• ensure that all project employers participate in a state-of-the-art local hiring program; and

• ensure labor peace in key industries within the project.

Since all of these benefits are contained in the CBA, they are legally binding and enforceable by the Labor Council, ACORN, and SFOP. In light of these commitments by the developer, these organizations took strong, public positions in support of the project on two key ballot initiatives presented to the voters on June 3.

On election day, San Francisco voters agreed with the Mayor, the developer, and the organizations signing the CBA that the project should move forward. An overview of the project and the dueling ballot initiatives is available here.

As the project is just beginning the formal approval process, there will be numerous opportunities for community members who did not participate in the CBA process to help shape the project by working with public bodies.

This CBA represents a historic labor-community partnership in San Francisco, laying the groundwork for future coalition-based advocacy in the city. Julian Gross, Legal Director of the Partnership for Working Families, represented the coalition in negotiations.

Riverside Motorsports Park CBA update

Back in February, a lower court in California ruled that the environmental impact statement (EIS) for the proposed Riverside Motorsports Park (RMP) in Merced was deficient, in part because the developer hadn't prepared a CBA, which had been included as a requirement in the master plan.

Last week, the Merced Sun-Star reported that the county and the groups that brought the lawsuit reached an agreement that the ruling voided most of the project's approvals. The agreement's "terms translate into even more uncertainty for RMP's already questionable future."

Before the project can go through, the article pointed out that RMP will have to go through a number of steps, including finishing that CBA, in order to get new approvals. Although this may press the timeline back, RMP officials are confident and plan to move forward. "[Q]uestions loom," however, "about the company's financial standing."

Chevron plant CBA update.

The Contra Costa Times reported on Thursday that local officials in Richmond, California, have approved a limit on the amount and type of crude oil that an upgraded Chevron plant will be able to process. The specifics of the cap, including the permitted sulfur content of crude and whether certain processes will be more restricted than others, will be determined soon.

Aside from concerns about emissions and global warming, community members are concerned that if Chevron upgrades its equipment, it might begin processing greater volumes of contaminated crude, contributing to localized pollution and health problems. Chevron, on the other hand, says that replacing its 40-70 year old machinery with safer and more efficient models will lead to no change in overall emissions, even if output increases.

(photo: Contra Costa Times. Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin stands in front of a wheel of misfortune during protests. Among the slices are flaring, accidents, spills, mercury exposure and asthma.)

However, while the planning commission has been focusing on the crude cap, it removed the "CBA" provisions from the proposed permit. These provisions would have provided $1 million for job training and created an urban forest, among other things. Although the commission will forward the 5 community benefits provisions to the city council for consideration, the commissioners explained that they removed the provisions because "it is unfair to require Chevron to do what other businesses aren't mandated to perform."

Well, that depends on how you look at it, I suppose. Lots of regulations impose tough requirements on certain kinds of businesses in order to offset their negative impacts. A crude cap is a good example. And a CBA in this case (were it actually negotiated by the community and not by the planning commission) wouldn't have to be required; one of the beauties of CBAs is that they are voluntarily negotiated and agreed to.

Chicago's thinking ahead

As a finalist for the 2016 Olympics, Chicago will still have some convincing to do to win the bid.

In this regard, Ald. Toni Preckwinkle has pledged to support CBAs.

Atlantic Yards in context.

The Atlantic Yards Report has posted some new aerial photos of the Atlantic Yards development footprint and the surrounding area. The new photos, taken as part of the Municipal Art Society's Atlantic Lots project, are complemented by other photos and renderings of the area, giving an idea of the scale and context of the plan.

photo by Jonathan Barkey

Yankee stadiums.

The new and the old Yankee Stadiums, side by side. Photo at flickr by Urch.

More opinions from Crains.

The letters to the editor in the May 19th edition of Crain's New York Business followed up on Alair Townsend's recent remarks about CBAs being "zoning for sale" and "government sanctioned extortion."

Jesse Masyr, the attorney who worked with the WHLDC to negotiate a preliminary agreement with Columbia, wrote in to express support for community coalitions and the CBA process. He also explained that "the time has come for the city of New York to have an open, honest dialogue about whether CBAs should be a part of the land-use landscape."

Atlanta Beltline community benefits

** This post was substantially updated on Aug. 16, 2009. Contact me here to obtain the archived original post. **

Project Overview

The Beltline project, an initiative of the Atlanta Development Authority, involves the development of a 22-mile light rail transit loop around the city of Atlanta. The transit component of the project will include multi-use trails, sidewalks, streetscapes and road improvements, providing alternative transportation options and transit oriented design for a city known widely for its sprawling habits. The $2.8 billion project will also incorporate green space, affordable housing, brownfields remediation, historic preservation and public art. Over the next 25 years, the project is expected to generate billions of dollars of economic development and create tens of thousands of construction and permanent jobs.

In order to finance the Beltline, the city of Atlanta established a 6,500 acre tax allocation district (TAD) in 2005. (Funding is also being provided by private donations and federal programs.) Most of the properties within the TAD are underutilized, and as they are developed, their property taxes will increase. The TAD functions by diverting the difference between the baseline taxes and the increased taxes (sometimes called the "tax increment") to repay the municipal bonds issued to finance the Beltline. For a more detailed explanation of the TAD process, see here. (And for more background on this financing mechanism, including the problems it may create, see here.) In addition to funding the Beltline itself, TAD proceeds will also be used to provide economic development and affordable housing incentives.

Beltline Community Benefits

The Beltline project has been received with enthusiasm, but it has also generated concerns about gentrification and the displacement of current residents. The 2005 city resolution creating the Beltline TAD responded to these concerns, recognizing "the importance of balanced and equitable development of the city in a manner that preserves the dignity of existing residents and ensures equal participation by all residents in the many benefits, direct and indirect...of the Beltline project" (p. 3). Importantly, the law also contained a community benefits provision (section 19):

The capital projects that receive funding from TAD bond proceeds shall reflect, through the development agreements or funding agreements that accompany such projects, certain community benefit principles, including but not limited to: prevailing wages for workers; a 'first source' hiring system to target job opportunities for residents of impacted low income 'Beltline' neighborhoods; establishment and usage of apprenticeship and preapprenticeship programs for workers of impacted Beltline neighborhoods. A more complete list of such principles and a community benefit policy shall be developed with community input and included within the agreements to be approved by City Council.

This provision ensures that community benefits will be included in numerous individual Beltline developments, similar to the Park East redevelopment legislation in Milwaukee that made CBA provisions mandatory for developments of county-owned land.

Community Involvement

Because separate community benefits packages will be developed for individual Beltline projects, continued community involvement is especially important. While there is no Beltline CBA coalition, the project is being managed in such a way as to provide enhanced opportunities for public input.

Atlanta Beltline Inc., an affiliate of the Atlanta Development Authority tasked with planning and implementing the Beltline project, has developed a community engagement framework to keep residents informed and engaged in the Beltline's creation. The framework consists of the Tax Allocation District Advisory Committee, the Beltline Affordable Housing Advisory Board, quarterly public briefings made by Atlanta Beltline Inc., a community engagement advocate, and 5 study groups that seek to receive public input on the project (meeting minutes and briefings are available here).

The community "think and act tank" Georgia STAND-UP was instrumental in having the community benefits provision included in the Beltline TAD, and "[s]ince that win, Georgia Stand-Up has been organizing, educating and empowering community, labor, faith leaders, and elected officials, to develop and fight for comprehensive community benefits policies and CBAs for the Beltline[.]"

Implementation

Like most large projects, the Beltline has had its share of problems in getting off the ground. In 2008, the Beltline was almost derailed by a Georgia Supreme Court decision that prohibited school district tax funds from being included in the TAD (Woodham v. City of Atlanta), but a referendum (Amendment 2) was passed several months later to amend the state constitution and overrule the court. In June, 2009, the Atlanta Development Authority and the Atlanta Public Schools reached an agreement on the financing and the disposition of the $18 million in TAD funds raised since 2005.

Another hitch in the project came in January, 2009, when the Georgia Department of Transportation and Amtrak teamed up in a last minute move to acquire some abandoned railroad tracks needed for the Beltline. The national rail corporation wanted the tracks for a regional heavy rail line running from New York to New Orleans, but after strong public protest, GDOT's board voted to retract its objection to the Beltline project. In July, GDOT and Atlanta Beltline Inc. reached a deal giving the Beltline exclusive control of the tracks until 2012. The agreement brought the Beltline up to almost 50% of its needed acquisitions, well ahead of schedule.

The Beltline's official groundbreaking came on February 23, 2008, with city leaders ceremoniously shoveling dirt from the site of a future bike path in the city's West End. A park project in the Fourth Ward was kicked off in December. According to the Atlanta Beltline 5-year Work Plan, by 2011 the Beltline should have acquired 10 new parks, constructed two portions of the trail system, prepared the right of way for rail construction, completed master planning, provided $19 million in economic development incentives and $42 million in affordable housing incentives, and invested $21 million in road, bicycle and pedestrian improvements.

In June, 2009, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded a $1 million grant to the city Atlanta for brownfields cleanup along the Beltline. The grant money will be used to seed a revolving loan fund, which is expected to fund the remediation of 10-15 sites.

Links & News

• Atlanta Beltline Inc.
  
• Atlanta Beltline Inc., Official YouTube Beltline Project Channel
• Atlanta Beltline Inc., Twitter page
  
• Atlanta Development Authority Beltline Vision
  
• Atlanta Development Authority Beltline Redevelopment Plan (Nov. 2005)
• Georgia Stand-Up
  
• Atlanta Journal Constitution, Signing of the Beltline (photos of a public art installation)
• Tom Karson, Atlanta: Local Initiative Combines with National Support, WorkingUSA The Journal of Labor and Society, Vol. 10, Issue 1 (2007) (publication website)
• Mara Shalhoup, Stop that train: An Atlanta resident wages a battle against the Beltline, Creative Loafing Atlanta, Mar. 14, 2007
  
• Amendment 2: The Beltline's best shot, Creative Loafing Atlanta, Oct. 15, 2008
  
• Kent A. Miles, Beltline supporters rally against high-speed rail option, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Feb. 1, 2009
• Eric Stirgus, No deal's been set on Beltline rail, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Mar. 5, 2009
  
• Press Release, EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson Announces $1 Million Grant to Clean Up Contaminated Land, Support BeltLine in Atlanta, June 2, 2009