Feds decide that Minnesotans should not pay for a new Jeffersonville convention center

Awesome!

Why should we take money from people in Michigan and New Jersey to pay for our convention center? If we want it, we should pay for it ourselves. Or if we're going to extract money from others, why not at least from fellow Hoosiers? Maybe Terre Haute should ante up for us?

Here's Ben Zion Hershberg in the C-J...

The Treasury Department has rejected Jeffersonville’s request for up to $25 million in tax credits intended to jump-start redevelopment of the city’s aging downtown with a convention center and hotel just across the Ohio River from downtown Louisville.

The so-called New Market credits were to be the financial linchpin for construction of a 225-room hotel, 700-space garage and 125,000-square-foot convention center near Maple and Mulberry Streets....

“It’s a setback,” Mayor Tom Galligan conceded Thursday. “We’ll reapply next year.”

That's too bad...

In the meantime, Galligan said, the city is focusing on another plan: a 1.3-mile canal through downtown that would be up to 40-feet wide in places. It would help drain storm water from flood-prone areas while providing a scenic setting for restaurants, shops and other development.

Based on preliminary estimates, the mayor said, the canal could cost $50 million but might be funded with state and federal money for drainage and environmental projects.

What's his obsession with using other people's money to pay for his stuff?

“It will be a bigger challenge” without the credits.

If it's worth it, then hopefully, he'll be up to the challenge. If it's not worth it, then it should fail of its own accord.