Arkansas Blog

One way to ger rid of the stench.....

"at whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."

If the public will own the plant, then the public should receive the profits.

because the public technically will own the plant.<<

Socialism for commies of course.

Chickenopolis loves it some socialism too. It owns a baseball stadium, that piece of Americana historically
reserved for the most chosen of the investor class.

Socialism, now and socialism forever!

Oh yea RingDing, shucks, I was having my collectivism wet dream. They only socialize the risks and losses , never the profits.

Uhmm. If I remember correctly, Sage makes rice dishes for restaurants and they were producing as much as they could in their present location. Don't know about you, but my eating out days have taken a big hit. I also have friends in the restaurant biz -- two dramatically different restaurants -- who are beginning to hurt a bit (understatement).
So I'd say there's even more to factor in right now. Just how well can the plant be expected to do, at least in the near term? Or long term, assuming gas prices, and other living costs, remain near present levels, to say nothing of continuing to reach new heights. Can Sage be expected to maintain their present output, based on possibly diminished demand, much less ramp up production? How many jobs are there proposed? Are there any assurances that the company will have to pony up anything if they don't get anywhere near their projected potential?
For that matter, can we be sure that Sage might not decide to maintain their present plant rather than move if demand for their product falls?
Build the plant and they will come, Little Rock? Are you sure?
Not that I don't have a lot of faith in the common sense of city officials, or any other officials, in Little Rock or anywhere else . . .
What can I say? I live near Pine Bluff. Around here, if any official touts it, a lot of us start trying to poke it with a stick to see what crawls out.

Payments in lieu of taxes agreements (usually called PILOT agreements) are supposed to work one of two ways. Usually, the political subdivisions that would receive taxes agree to receive payments instead of ad valorem taxes, which is often a good deal because the payments are higher than the tax on the unimproved land (though lower than the taxes on the land after improvements). If the political subdivisions do not agree to the PILOT agreement, other political subdivisions can bypass them, in which case the objecting entity receives its share of ad valorem taxation from the property.

While the public does technically own the property, it leases it back to the company developing the property. PILOT agreements are often good options for industrial development that might not occur otherwise. Plenty of towns, counties, and school districts in the state welcome the agreements because it's often a windfall.

Of course, none of this is to say that the particular deal in discussed in this post is a good one. As Max notes, we haven't seen the PILOT agreement yet.

Sage Dining web page text:

We are SAGE Dining Services®, one of the premier providers of dining services and gourmet catering to private schools, colleges, and corporations in the United States.

We provide talented managers and chefs as well as creative menus and well trained staff to transform your on-site food service into a memorable dining experience. Since our creation in 1990, we have grown by providing our clients with personal attention, superior service, and unbelievable food.

If you are looking for a way to improve your dining service, we invite you to take a tour of our site and contact us. You'll see why...

SAGE® The flavor of things to come®
Welcome . From Our Kitchen . Let's Do Lunch . Careers . Contact . Home

<<<<<<<<<<

I think we would be much better served if we AR taxpayers funded.. small, very small, family/community farms.. including green house year round fresh produce production at affordable prices...all of which would not require thousands of miles of shipping to get to our tables.

Taxpayer subsidies of private catering to private high profit elite schools (and other rich endeavors) is as outrageous as funding elite security checks in airports.

All of this at a time when my local wal'mart bread section has reduced whle wheat and other grain breads selection by about 70 percent.. it's almost all cheap white bread now. Working folks are hurting and their diet is beginning to suffer too A tomato at the famers market today costs as much as a damn good piece of pie cost before we started bombing iraqi people and their oil fields (again) 5 years ago. Frankly I give Bush or Israel about a 70 percent chance of blowing up Iran and or Pakistan before Jan '09.. Oil will double from its current pricing if they do bomb Iran... and we all act civil about elites receiving taxpayer funded gourmet meals at non public institutions!

It's time for revolution in America.

Eureka,
When you have an opportunity visit the Fayetteville Farmers Market. It's open on Tue, Thur and Saturday mornings. It has really grown into something to behold. Several Asians are now growers and the tables of veggies are stacked high. I found sno peas, water cress, rhubarb, beets, free-range eggs and turnips on my visit in June. There are many more vendors than there were 5-6 years ago and fewer arts/crafts offerings. As before, bountiful fresh flower offerings. Can't wait for purple hulled peas!
Car pool over with friends.

You should be aware of the bread makers in our neck of the woods, Madison County I recall, who make a wide selection of breads. They are even making 100% sprouted breads. Sorry, I'm too lazy to go to refrig and get the name. Of course Walmart won't sell them. Small bakeries cannot wait 90-120 days for Wally to pay up.

In the future in addition to cities putting a pittance into local food production we could revitalize the old practice of community canneries. It may become a necessity. I think Winslow still has one.
.

Elwood, It's been a couple of years since I had the pleasure but the Fayetteville market is all you described and more. Of course many of the farmers are from the ES area and the bread folks do the ES farmers market too.

I am also thinking about what we could do to encourage less costly fresh produce production year round in AR. Also the community gardeners Max posted on a few weeks ago (subsidize that everywhere!). This is what we need much more of in AR and America.. and we need to make it pay for those who do so for the benefit of all, not exclusive rich plastic gourmet foods or private school fundie foods.

Farmers market (affordable) is the kind of food and small business AR taxpayers should be encouraging and increasing on... not faith based processed gourmet profiteers!

Just for the record the company is Sage V Foods )pronounced Sage "five", and according to an article published last September, they are moving their IQF (individually quick frozen) rice plant from Texas where they have reached capacity with no room to expand. Planned opening - Dec. '08.

Thanks for the clarification, Hillcrustian.

And AR taxpayers need to sweeten the pot/wok for a rice company to move to the mecca of rice production, why exactly?