Tuscaloosa threatens to use eminent domain to seize downtown businesses

The City of Tuscaloosa is threatening to use its eminent domain authority to take the property of several uncooperative downtown business owners. It's all part of a downtown revitalization project, which will be funded with up to $80 million of federal tax dollars.

The half-block area that the city is proposing to seize would be turned into a public park. That is a "public use," by anyone's definition, so this isn't necessarily an abuse of the city's eminent domain power. Still, it is a prime example of how federal government meddling so often tips the balance between local governments - who are the recipients of vast sums of federal money - and small business owners, who rarely have a comparable source of revenue.

Revitalizing downtown Tuscaloosa may be a worthy objective, but it is a local project which should be among the least of the federal government's concerns. If it is so worthwhile, the City of Tuscaloosa should pay for it out of its own bank account, and Senator Shelby - who is from Tuscaloosa, by the way - should find a better use of federal dollars. Reducing the deficit would be a good start.