 ccrp poll michigan strategic fund chevy dealership funding  new poll overview the michigan strategic fund recently unanimously approved the capture of tax authorizations of 719528 in local and school taxes for renovations for george matick chevrolet on telegraph road the 50 year old building was converted from a flea market into a dealership 35 years ago according to the medc the building s age excessive size high operational costs increasing costs of regulatory compliance and maintenance and current automotive customer expectations have rendered it unsuitable for longterm continued use the dealership plans to renovate the dealership and install a car wash and fueling center on an adjacent parcel it has purchased the tax capture will pay for brownfieldeligible activities like road and curb work sewer modifications asbestos removal and landscaping questions have been asked as to why this dealership should be given special treatment when other auto dealerships are competing for the same business as they are and it give the appearance that the medc rsquo s strategic fund is picking winners and losers medc community assistance team specialist stacy esbrook said other dealerships are nearby and george matick chevrolet is trying to stay afloat the community does not want to have a large vacant parcel if the dealership closes she said board member bill martin said this was a tough decision and that it rsquo s a close call but i want to make sure people know i don rsquo t think we should be in the business of financing dealerships or the construction thereof medc president and ceo mike finney said he doesn t recall the medc ever having approved incentives for auto dealerships in the past and it does raise a concern but in this case there was a public infrastructure need we evaluate every project on a project by project basis in this case because of some of the public infrastructure needs that were there it made sense for the medc staff to recommend it and the board appropriately approved it finney said michael lafaive a director with the mackinac center said this type of special treatment is unfair doesn t create jobs and is too costly it is unfair because this dealer no doubt competes with other dealers not lucky enough to get a government handout robbing many taxpayer peters to subsidize the corporate paul only shifts precious resources around evidence shows it is unlikely to create net new jobs worse this is money that could have accrued to local schools depriving them of such revenues represents a very high opportunity cost unless of course some future graduates intend to wash cars on the new site lafaive said new poll question should the medc s strategic fund have approved the capture of tax authorizations to george matick chevrolet yes no undecided to vote in this poll click on this link http wwwclintoncountygoporg content shouldmedc e28099sstrategicfundhaveapprovedcapturetaxauthoriz  to enter your comments click on add new comment after you vote previous poll question do you think mitt romney should be the republican candidate for president again in 2016 yes 59 no 34 undecided 7 three comments were made on this poll comment 1 romney we need a proven conservative that has a conservative record like scott walker we conservatives can win and do win if we nominate a true conservative wake up republicans ida s comment 2 romney for president gov romney is a nice fellow but has no backbone to stand up against the opposition in a debate and i believe he is too liberal for my tastes comment 3 think dole mccain romney think dole mccain romney moderates are more electable no reagan won 49 states with clear conservative principles when the gop acts like democrats and puts up fuzzy candidates voters get turned off they do not want tweedle dee tweedle dum they do not want two parties doing the same thing the want a choice comment 4 romney 2016 yes yes and yes i m ready for hillary   all emails addresses  