Why are taxpayers giving the Chamber of Commerce a blank check?
Let's say your local sports team wants a new stadium and is trying to get public opinion on their side. Or one of your local city leaders wants to get the public ready for taxpayer money being used on a new sports venue. One of their first calls will be to their local Chamber of Commerce ("CoC").
Read MoreWorcester was promised that Polar Park would pay for itself, it has not and will not
In 2018, Worcester, Massachusetts, agreed to finance a substantial portion of taxpayer money to build a brand-new ballpark. Although the city would be borrowing around $100.8 million for this project (making it the 4th most expensive minor league ballpark to be built), city leaders justified this expense by stating how the ballpark would fund itself, if not make the city money in the long term. At the press conference announcing the deal, the city manager told everyone outright that “in…
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