Subsidy Vote

I am going to make a quick follow up to tonight's Council meeting and will write a more detailed account later today.

The Mayor, Council Members' Johnson and Larson voted to approve waiving the subsidy requirement for Lexington Textile. The requirement is one $8/hr employee. The total subsidy paid to this company is $81,000.

It is not fair to all the businesses in Isanti that receive no subsidy to not hold the line. City taxpayers have to pay their tax bill no matter what type of year they are having.

If Lexington had a legitimate reason for not fulfilling their obligation they should present these facts to the Council. The Owner did not even show-up to make the argument. Tonight's 3-2 vote saved Lexington $41,000 in penalties. This should be worth a few moments of their time.

This leads to the greater problem of having bare minimum requirements for tens of thousands of dollars of City subsidies that have no apparent return. If a business ask for taxpayer money we must demand a higher standard than $8 an hour jobs. We owe our current businesses and City Taxpayers nothing less.