Is value worth the cost? (RCED)

Councilman puts economic development under the microscope

By Fred Arnold
Belleville Telescope publisher
www.thebellevilletelescope.com

Are the funds the city of Belleville spends on economic development worth the investment?

That was the question asked by one member of the city council on Monday. During the portion of this week’s agenda relegated for paying the bills, Dr. Roger McCartney question the quarterly expenditure of $6500 the Republic County Economic Development Corp.

“Do we pay our RCED $26,000 a year? “he asked. Belleville city manager Neil Lewis responded “yes”.

“The city contributes to those funds annually. Funds are used to help pay for local and area economic development projects,” Lewis said.

“Do we get $26000 a year worth of good out of it?” McCartney asked. ‘I really haven’t had a lot of positive feedback.”

Belleville mayor Blaine Miller said he felt that RCED did a lot of positive things for the community.

“I think they do a lot of good things,” he said. “They have been involved in a lot of projects.”

“Like what? ” McCartney asked. “I would like to see how they justify what we pay them each year.”

Miller said he would ask Luke Mahin from RCED to attend the next city council meeting and give an update on what economic development does for the city.

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RCED will present an update on projects and programs to the Belleville City Council December 11th, 2017. We welcome the public to attend and learn about the value we provide the City of Belleville and Republic County.

Until then check out what programs and projects we’ve been a part of lately.

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