Do you love to watch the activist videos you see at FreeKeene.com? Did you know that there are two “raw” channels where you can find all the uncut versions of the footage–before they hit the editing room floor? Garret Ean and I upload all of our footage to YouTube daily, whether it gets used or not. If you’re a skeptic, this is a great way to call out the activists for what you believe they’ve edited out. Dig in! Here’s just a taste of what you’ve been missing:
Matthew Oldershaw is a 30 year old father of one. On June 3rd, 2014, at about 6:30pm he was writing with sidewalk chalk on the ground by the fountain in downtown Keene, NH when a man came up and pushed him in the fountain, injuring his neck, ribs, and legs. He was rushed to the hospital where it was determined that some of his injuries are so severe that they may never heal correctly. The man who did this to him has been identified by eye witnesses and on camera, but one week later, the Keene Police have yet to arrest the assailant. Here is the story in Matthew’s own words.
It’s budget time and of course it’s going up again. Just like last year. And the year before. Surprisingly, the Parking Fund is going down $200,000 even though the city collected $80,000 less than it had planned on (no doubt thanks to Robin Hood and his merry misfits). Some have been quick to applaud the city bureaucrats in this reduction, but wait. The TIF tax portion went up $200,000. What the hell is a TIF tax? If all you saw was “tax” and you already knew it was something bad, then you would be correct. Here is a brief explanation in my LTE to the Keene Sentinel:
Tax Increment Financing is not “free money”
Who pays for Keene’s downtown parking?
If you were to ask city management, they would tell you it’s paid for through rentals, fees and fines. If you then asked them if the taxpayers paid into the parking fund as well, they would most likely tell you “no.”
This is a flat-out mistruth. Let me explain. This year, $1 million (47 percent) of the $2.2 million proposed parking budget will come from the city’s Tax Increment Finance (TIF) tax pool. This is a huge increase from $840,000 (34 percent) last year.
The TIF tax pool is generated from Keene’s two developmental districts and the revenue collected can only be spent in those districts. It cannot be spent elsewhere. The idea is the money will be put aside and used to improve the assessed value of these properties and therefore increase the potential tax revenue over time because, according to social engineer Mayor Lane, development in these areas would never happen unless they had a little help from the taxpayers. This is a ridiculous notion.
One of the biggest problems with TIF is how the money is spent. Right now, almost half of Keene’s TIF revenue goes to the parking fund. The other half is spent mostly on principal and interest. We’re talking about $2.4 million that could be going directly to the general fund to pay for city services, which would ultimately help lower the already unsustainable tax rate.
The self proclaimed Garret Ean of Manchester, new mover Andrew Vermiglio aka Shire Dude joins us in studio to talk about his journey from California, the liberty culture of NH, Porcfest, agorism in Manchester, how public we are about our beliefs, plus Rob and Joel debate what minarchists really are.
Chalk Wars • Protesting Memorial day “End the wars” • Violence is violence • Sriracha wins! • 10 genres you either love or despise • Jay joins • Show notes, audio, and archives at: BlackSheepRising.org
It’s budget time and of course it’s going up again. Just like last year. And the year before. Surprisingly, the Parking Fund is going down $200,000 even though the city collected $80,000 less than it had planned on (no doubt thanks to Robin Hood and his merry misfits). Some have been quick to applaud the city bureaucrats in this reduction, but wait. The TIF tax portion went up $200,000. What the hell is a TIF tax? If all you saw was “tax” and you already knew it was something bad, then you would be correct. Here is a brief explanation in 
