Think government is there for the people?  Think again.  In Oak Cliff, a suburb of Dallas, Texas, a real estate investor named Josh Terry decided to fix-up an existing multifamily property in the Oak Cliff area.  He got a ruling on zoning, obtained permits, and did everything legal.  The city gave him their blessings, permits and permission to perform the renovation.  The remodeling started.  New paint, new tiles, new carpet and after $100,000 invested in the project the building was starting to show improvements then the unthinkable happened.  The City of Dallas changed it’s mind and ordered him to stop.  Now he’s out of at least $100,000 and has a building partly renovated that is utterly worthless, due to the city doing a reversal on their initial zoning ruling, and revoking the permits issued.  This is not right and there’s not much he can do about it because he can’t sue.  They’re giving him the runaround and when he successfully wins one claim, they just make up another one.  Basically he’s screwed based on the whims of a city official and both the stupidity and stubbornness of Dallas’ city government.  By the way, this is the same city government that is currently trying to justify giving it’s citizens a tax hike for the sake of offering even MORE government.  Maybe a tax cut would be better?

Original story:  http://www.dallasobserver.com/2010-09-09/news/think-city-hall-should-get-a-tax-hike-you-might-think-again-after-seeing-how-crappy-it-treats-its-taxpayers/