From
Bruce Johnson's blog, word that the city council has introduced the "
Positive Nature Property Tax Exemption Forgiveness Act," which will provide some temporary relief from the property taxes that have endangered the youth program's existence at 1017 New Jersey Avenue.
I've received a draft version of the bill (even though today is
Emancipation Day and government offices are closed--good service!). It says that Lot 18 on Square 740 is exempt from real-property taxation as long as it is leased to Positive Nature. Further, "The Council orders that all unpaid real property taxes, interest, penalties, fees, and other related charges assessed against real property located at Lot 18, Square 740 for tax year 2008 shall be forgiven."
This is still just pending legislation at this point, of course, and is a short-term solution while (Bruce says) Tommy Wells, David Catania, and the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development search for new space for
Positive Nature.
UPDATE: And who did I just run into at 15th and K, NW--none other than Bruce Johnson himself, doing Man on the Streets about the pope. I took a minute to introduce myself as "that blogger whose photos of the ballpark
you've used on your blog." He laughed, and apologized for not originally crediting the photo (and rightly noted that he did so after what I'm sure was an
avalanche of feedback from JDLand readers), and we talked for a moment or two about this Positive Nature news. It's a small town....