Katie Arnholt Kim

This is on my wish list. :) It's priced at $40,000...so I am starting to save up.

On Monday, the Peoria Journal Star announced that Cub Foods was leaving their location on Knoxville. This caused quite the conversation around town, especially since in today's paper the developer was on record stating that they found out about the move from the newspaper on Monday.

From my understanding and what others have told me, the city approved the development of the MidTown shopping center with Cub Foods being the anchor because they thought it would stabilize the area. The MidTown shopping center also has a handful of little stores/shops. In order to do this development, there were some homes that had to be purchased and judging from the editorials it does not seem like the homeowners received a fair price or did they want to move. So there was a lot of negative feelings from the start, and now it seems like it is taking an "I told you so" attitude.

The article in the Journal Start states that the City of Peoria "owes $5.3 million for the public private partnership that underpins Midtown. It's general obligation bonds end with a $1.1 million final payment in 2019." The developer stated that Schnucks was once interested in the location. However, the "rumor" around town is that Schnucks is going to locate on Knoxville but on the other end of town...the end where a lot of middle to higher end housing is going, which would make sense for Schnucks demographic market.

In my mind, the space still has a lot of potential, and it is close to the two main downtown hospitals who are both in the process of major expansion projects. It is also located along one of the main arteries in the city. It is a great location for a multitude of businesses, and if you are interested, please contact me and lets work a deal to get you into the space.

I was shocked our city was considering this type of program. I think it is a great idea and a great way for individuals to work off their debts. It gives them an option to take responsibility for their debt. I was sad to hear that most of the programs that they are considering are for seniors. I know there are a lot of younger couples that have trouble with paying their taxes as well.

If the city could leverage individuals for reception positions, garbage pick-up, creating/updating their website instead of paying thousands of dollars, marketing, calling individuals to obtain information... the list goes on. I personally do not have first hand knowledge of the city nor the county's needs. I believe there is a lot of work that could be done to pay off individual's debt and reduce the city and county's operating overhead at the same time.

In today's article on the topic in Peoria Journal star, one person mentions that it is not a large portion of our taxes that go to the city. A majority is paid to the school district, with other portions going to municipalities, libraries, park and fire districts. Well...could those organizations benefit from having individuals work for them instead of getting the money? Could the library use someone to help check people out and put books away in exchange for reducing their debt? I would think so.

Now I know there has to be restrictions on who is allowed and how much they can work off versus how much they have to pay, but it would be a great program to open up to others who are having difficulty in this tough economic time as means to help with the financial strain, not just seniors. It would reduce the overhead of the city/county and help the community out at the same time. To me it sounds like a win-win...maybe I am missing something?

The article also made mention that other places have instituted similar programs. They quoted that Oregon, Colorado and Massachusetts, to name a few. Boulder County in Colorado initiated a Senior Rax Work-off program (1986) to enable seniors to earn money equal to the amount of property taxes owed. Seniors were hired at $10/hour and jobs were given on a first come first serve basis. Boston (2007) initiated a similar program which offered up to $750 in property tax relief, but only to seniors in a certain income bracket in exchange for volunteer service.

I was a little confused about this one.

The energy credit for a new heater, new insulation, etc. was available in 2007, not available in 2008, and is going to be available in 2009....?

So:

2007 - available
2008 - NOT available
2009 - available

Got Income Producing Property?

With all the talk about the first time homebuyer tax credit, there is little talk about the adjustments that they are talking about for income producing property.

If you use a property for income and then move into it and live there for 2 years and then sell it. You will not be eligible for the gain amount. It will be a fraction with the # of years you own the property and the # of years you have it as an investment.

Please check with your tax consultant to confirm how this pertains to your financial situation. This information is subject to change due to the government's constant attention to tax laws and credits.