Yesterday, I posted this story about another instance of eminent domain [ab]use by the state of New York. In this case, the state wants to kick people out of their properties and turn them over to a developer that so it can build a new arena for the New Jersey Nets basketball team.
This morning, the Wall Street Journal adds this piece of information:
The city’s Independent Budget Office said in a report last month that the arena would cost the city nearly $170 million, nearly $40 million more in spending than it would generate in tax revenues.
That’s brilliant, in a sick kind of way. The state will not only strip the rights of private parties to benefit a developer, it will make them pay for the arena in their taxes later.