When it comes to deciding whether a tax break should be granted in Chattanooga, our elected officials seem to allow a select (and talented) group to make the informal decisions.
This group consists of the Chamber of Commerce, River City Co. and the Miller & Martin law firm. Many of our elected and appointed officials appear content to rubber stamp whatever this select group negotiates and sends to them. Both of our development agencies and this law firm do an excellent job of representing private interests. But when our local governments merely rubber stamp what is brought to them, no one is looking out for the common good.
That’s what needs to change. We need policies and procedures to protect the public interest. The public also needs to become more aware of the very close relationships — perhaps even conflicts of interests — surrounding these deals.
The chamber is governed by a board of directors, whose current members include 10 individuals employed by companies which have benefited from a property tax break under the PILOT program. (BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, CBL, McKee Foods, Vision Hospitality, Unum, Astec, Kenco, EMJ, Komatsu and US Xpress).
One chamber board member serves on a city bond board that considers PILOT agreements. The city and county mayors are board members. The president/CEO of River City is on the chamber board, as are two members of Miller & Martin. Our city and county governments provide the chamber with over $1.2 million a year in taxpayer dollars for the economic development program. Members of the River City board of directors include the city and county mayors and a member of the City Council and County Commission. Two River City directors also serve on city bond boards that consider PILOT agreements. A member of Miller & Martin is on the River City board. When River City staff pitches the downtown housing program to elected officials, they are usually accompanied by a Miller & Martin attorney.