Councilwoman Anderson Pulls Tax Credit Request

Councilwoman Julie Anderson and her husband purchased the historic Whitworth Literary Society building in 2005.  They then started a rehabilitation of the building converting it into their home.  Advice from the city at the time was that they would then be able to take advantage of tax credits in order to offset the restoration costs.  Now, after spending the money and disclosing a tremendous amount of personal financial information, outside council hired by the city has decided it is a conflict of our city charter for Anderson to receive the credits. 

To me, the whole episode is unfortunate.  The outside council even noted that there are good reasons why this program should be exempt from city rules.  We should be promoting the use of programs like this to assist personal preservation efforts and celebrating this building’s new life…  But that’s just my opinion.

Link to The News Tribune