It is, perhaps, unfortunate that the very name of the district created by Albany officials in 2008 to encourage development in certain areas of the city that, on their own, likely would not have seen improvement carries with it a stigma that generates an automatic negative knee-jerk response with some.

Tax Allocation District.

Despite the can't-lose fail-safe nature of the economic development tool, many citizens see the word "tax" and are immediately leery.

"It's really disheartening that this is a concept that some people just don't get," Albany City Manager James Taylor said of the TAD approved by city voters in 2008 and OK'd by the state Legislature during its 2009 session. "We've tried our best, but I really don't know how to make folks understand. One thing I do know is that you can't explain it in sound bites, not so that the general public gets it.

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