CURRENT MOON

Friday, April 04, 2008

Bible Park -- A Bad Idea Waiting To Happen


Looks as if local residents are none too excited about having their tax dollars used for a bible theme park.

Rutherford County resident Joe Dassaro has submitted a request to state Rep. Donna Rowland to seek the attorney general’s opinion on whether county officials can legally authorize the use of a TIF to fund “a religious, privately owned, business entity.”

Dassaro, in an e-mail to The Daily News Journal Thursday evening, states that he submitted the request via fax and e-mail to Rowland’s office.

Dassaro added the following two conditions concerning this question:

“In the context of the question provided, the term “legally” is not limited to statutory authorization for Tax Incremental Financing. The term “legally” is intended to incorporate the applicability of federal and state case law in relation to the question and subsequent compliance with established legal precedent.

“In the context of the question provided, I am not asking the Attorney General to opine as to whether the proposed Bible Theme Park is ‘religious’ in nature.”

Rowland said Thursday she had not received the letter as yet and cannot comment on it until she does. She said she will be out of town Friday and likely will not receive the letter until Monday.

At Thursday’s meeting of the Future Development Committee, Rutherford County Planning Commissioner Bob Farris also called for an Attorney General opinion on the legality of using public funds for the Bible park.

Last weekend Dassaro sent a letter to the American Civil Liberties Union asking for its help stopping public fund from going to the Bible park.

1 comment:

LittleIsis said...

A Bible Park? How is that not religious in nature?