Editorial: Insulting hurricane victims

Thursday, Aug. 16, 2007 | 7:01 a.m.

D evelopers in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and real estate speculators have become unlikely, and undeserving, benefactors of federal efforts to help the Gulf Coast recover after Hurricane Katrina.

Although it escaped serious damage, Tuscaloosa is cashing in. There is a rush of condominium construction in and around Tuscaloosa, with the marquee projects near the University of Alabama's football stadium. Those projects are attracting more than the die-hard Crimson Tide fans. Investors from across the country see a golden opportunity, hoping to receive rich tax breaks for buying in what the federal government designated a hard-hit area.

Of course, Tuscaloosa didn't exactly suffer great hurricane damage. The city, which is about 200 miles from the gulf, received heavy rain and some scattered wind damage, yet it was included on the federal list. The Associated Press reported that many people in Tuscaloosa credit Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., for that plum, although Shelby's office denies it.

Tuscaloosa developer Stan Pate said it was "a joke" to include the city.

"It was supposed to be about getting people ... to put housing in New Orleans, L a., or Biloxi, Miss.," said Pate, who nonetheless has used the tax breaks. "It was not about condos in Tuscaloosa."

The tax break is credited for a 10 percent increase in the sale of condominiums there. It is a windfall for investors and builders, who face little risk building or buying in Tuscaloosa, as they would farther south on the Gulf Coast, which still is in ruins.

The tax breaks, which thankfully expire for Tuscaloosa this year, were modeled after the federal effort to revive Manhattan after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. However, the plan was perverted, and investment dollars are going toward luxury condos instead of rebuilding. It is unconscionable that the then-Republican-controlled Congress let that happen. It is an insult to the people whose homes and towns were devastated by the hurricane.