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Industrial Development Board and "Sums-in-Lieu" of Taxes

Prior to 1993, businesses financed by industrial development bonds were exempted from paying property taxes, including property tax to the school system. But beginning in 1990, Industrial Development Boards (IDBs) in Mobile began formally requiring businesses financed by their bonds to pay a "sum-in- lieu" of property tax to the school system.

Many of the payments have not yet been made...

The following series of articles appeared in The Harbinger.

• Trickle Down Trickery (Dec 8, 1992)
• Industry and Land, but No Money (Jan 12, 1993)
• Eyes on the Prize (Jul 27, 1993)
• Correction (Aug 24, 1993)
• We're Still #1 (Sep 9, 1993)
• Missing In Action (Nov 23, 1993)
• Might as Well Kiss the Money Goodbye (Mar 8, 1994)
  • Missing Sums-in-Lieu
  • Additional Missing Sums-in-Lieu from the City of Mobile IDB
• There Is No Procedure (Jun 7, 1994)
• Losing Institutional Memory? (Sep 27, 1994)
  • Sum-In-Lieu Payments Received by the School System (through August 1, 1994)
• New Year, New Officials, Better Luck? (Jan 10, 1995)
• Collecting Sums-in-Lieu Is Harder Than You Think (Sep, 1995?)
• Harbinger Update: School System Did Not Get Endorsement (Oct 10, 1995)
• Three Years & Counting (Mar 5, 1996)
  • Sum-in-Lieu Payments Received by Mobile County Public School System
• Sum-in-Lieu Made a Detour (Mar 26, 1996)
• Update on Sum-in-Lieu (Mar 25, 1997)
  • Who Hasn't Paid
• Something About the IDB You Might Not Know:
  The School System Still Hasn't Received All Promised Payments From IDB-Financed Businesses (Mar 31, 1998)
• Where Is The Missing School Tax Money? (Mar 30, 1999)
• "The Rule Was, 'Don't Blow the Whistle'" (Aug 31, 1999)
• Once Again Financial Crunch for Mobile Public Schools; Once Again Those Darn Missing Sum-In-Lieu Payments (Mar 14, 2000)
  • Who Hasn't Paid
• Everyone Says He's Working On It. Update on Missing Sum-In-Lieu Payments to Mobile's Public Schools. (Mar 28, 2000)
• Sum-In-Lieu Update: School and Industrial Development Board Officials Are Talking Again About Collecting Promised Monies (Sep 5, 2000)
• School Official Provides Information to Auditor to Resolve Sum-In-Lieu (Oct 31, 2000)
• Will the School System Ever Find Out How Much Sum-In-Lieu-Of-Property-Tax Payments It Is Owed? (Mar 27, 2001)