IS IT TRUE? June 1, 2011

IS IT TRUE Centre City Properties LLC has accomplished a milestone?…that as owners of the McCurdy Hotel that Centre City has finally written a check to the Vanderburgh County Treasurer to pay SOME TAXES that were overdue on the historic hotel?…that SOME is the operative word here and not ALL?…that sometime after the May 10, 2011 due date that a payment of $10,771.55 was made toward an overdue tax bill of $23,046.31?…that included a penalty of $2,985.34 most of which was levied after May 10, 2011?…that the strange amount paid by Centre City was sufficient to bring the property taxes to within 6 months of being current?…that it would certainly be a show of good faith in pursuing this project if CCP were to take another step and pay the $12, 274.76 needed to bring the taxes current?…that one can basically stay 6 months to a year behind on property taxes forever without fear of the tax auctioneers hammer?

IS IT TRUE that the land on which the McCurdy sets is assessed for taxation purposes at $505,400?…that this land includes the parking lot that the City of Evansville purchased for a price of $603,000 exactly 1,345 days ago?…that we must assume that the City of Evansville’s purchase price was based on market value?…that the State of Indiana has a constitutional mandate to assess properties at market value?…that if this assessment is at market value that the land that the actual structure is on must have a value of NEGATIVE $97,600 unless of course the City of Evansville overpaid for the parking lot in the first place which they are not supposed to be able to do?…that either this land is assessed inconsistently with its market value based on an actual sale?…that this violates the constitution?

IS IT TRUE that the improvements to the McCurdy Hotel property are assessed at $316,200?…that every improvement is given a grade of F for condition?…that the assessors website does not have any record of the square footage of the structure?…that scaling from the map the structure itself appears to be in the 90,000 to 100,000 square foot range?…that the assessment is then in the $3 – $4 per square foot range or comparable to a dish towel?…that the recorded sale price of the entire McCurdy property is $818,500?…that the total dollars spent by the City of Evansville to acquire the parking lot and the hotel on behalf of Centre City Properties was $1,403,000?…that something does not smell right about an assessment of $821,600 for a property that the City of Evansville paid $1,403,000 for?…that it appears that this property is under-assessed by $581,400 costing the taxpayers of Evansville $17,442 per year if this assessment was correct?

IS IT TRUE that in all fairness that in its present condition the McCurdy would not draw a bid of $1.4 Million or even $821,000 at a public auction?…that even though the accounting was done wrong back in 2007 and 2008 that the property has degraded along with its next door neighbor the Riverhouse since that time?…that based on a recent auction at the Riverhouse that both 90 room hotels have a market value of only about $350,000 in their present condition?…that an eroding tax base due to devaluation is already a big problem in Evansville and is getting bigger?…that Centre City Properties could appeal the assessment based on the Riverhouse auction and get an even bigger tax reduction than they already are receiving?

IS IT TRUE that it has now been 1,491 days since the announcement was made on May 14, 2007 that the McCurdy Hotel was to be refurbished into luxury apartments?…that it has now been 1,345 days since the Evansville Redevelopment Commission at the request of Mayor Weinzapfel approved the spending of $603,000 to purchase the parking lot?…that City Centre Properties and Scott Kosene the developers of the McCurdy project are both listed as contributors to the Weinzapfel for Mayor committee for 2010?

IS IT TRUE that there are now 518 days remaining in the two years that the EPA had given the City of Evansville to present an acceptable solution to the Combined Sewer Overflow problem?…..that this plan is an expensive and complex endeavor that needs immediate attention to avoid the embarrassment and expense of another round of fines?