Mayor Gitz said in his weekly column in the Journal Standard on July 13, 2014 that the MetLife Building is too big for city hall, and he does not want it off the tax rolls! Surprise! When did a Mayor of Freeport or the present city council get concerned about taking buildings off the tax rolls. Wake up Freeport! Every TIF in Freeport takes property off the tax rolls. The Fifth Third Bank building, if acquired by the city, will take a property off the tax rolls to the tune of $65,455.94. I guess $65,000 does not count! Just shift more taxes to the homeowner and the few remaining small businesses in Freeport. Oh by the way, before city acquires any more buildings, let’s deal with the existing buildings that it owns. It takes a lot of nerve to talk about buying more buildings when the city cannot even maintain its existing buildings.