Forum: Golden Corral tax break
February 4, 2013 10:18PM
Mike Ditka | AP photo
Updated: March 6, 2013 6:34AM
Upon reading that Mayor Zabrocki and Tinley Park trustees are going to allow a Golden Corral restaurant a 10-year property tax break of about $140,000 a year, I’m concerned that this will set a precedent for other businesses in Tinley Park.
I don’t know what the savings or benefits are to Tinley Park. Who will pick up the difference in the lost tax revenue? The residents, whose property tax is already too high.
This agreement opens the door to similar tax breaks to major retailers. If Wal-Mart should want to open a store in the village, I don’t know how it could be denied a tax break in light of the Golden Corral deal.
I believe tax breaks should go to mom-and-pop businesses as they previously have. Downtown Tinley Park is looking more like a ghost town, I’m sorry to see.
I see more and more homes in foreclosure in Tinley Park, and I believe it is mostly because of the high property tax and the unfair tax breaks that are now going to big businesses.
Marie E. Roman
Tinley Park
Black community can best fight violence
Last week, another child was murdered in the city of Chicago with a gun fired by a cowardly gang member spraying bullets into a crowd. Having performed as a majorette with her school band at the presidential inauguration, 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton had just returned to Chicago.
My question lies within the black community.
When will Chicago’s black middle class denounce the continuous cycle of gangs replacing the fathers in these misled youths’ lives?
It’s not the president’s problem to solve. It’s not the mayor’s problem to solve.
No amount of money, social programs or gun control will solve this problem. A distinct and much-needed change in culture within the black community is the only solution.
Michael McCune
Tinley Park
The name’s the thing
Mark Ditka, son of former Bears coach Mike, gets 24 months probation for his latest drunken driving conviction. The DUI in 2011 was dismissed. How convenient.
Maybe if Mark Ditka had injured a judge’s relative, he wouldn’t have been treated so leniently.
The explanation that his lawyer gave was that it was a “sad story in his young life, and he just got caught up in the times.” Young? He’s 50 years old! And what exactly does “caught up” mean?
OK, time to roll a joint and go out drinking with not a care in the world. Why you ask? Because I just changed my name to Ditka.
Yale Mappa
Orland Park
