Can we put this to rest?

In the course of my reporting today on the confusion surrounding recovery zone facility bonds I had the opportunity to speak with developer Bob Isner, who is part of the partnership planning to build a 9,000 sf downtown store for Deep Roots Market. Isner's North Eugene LLC has a request in the pipeline for $1.9 million in recovery zone facility bond financing.

We talked about the fact that no tax money — local or otherwise — will be spent on these projects. It's not news, and not relevant to my story, but I know there is still a popular misconception about it, so I thought it would be worthwhile to air this piece one more time.

"We’re just using the authority of this local government and it’s a private placement so there is no liability by the city and county," Isner said. "I think there’s a big misconception in the public eye that, quote, the city of Greensboro would be on the hook for these bonds. The answer is no. These bonds will be sold on the private market, and the buyers will take risk and receive the benefit of the tax-free benefit."


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