Cities, counties take back corporate tax breaks

[exactaplayer]

Here is an interesting article regarding tax breaks given to corporations in an attempt to lure them into a locality.
"We were told that we were going to ruin Topeka's ability to attract businesses; we'd give Topeka a black eye," said James Crowl, assistant county counselor in Shawnee County, where last year officials approved a settlement that calls for Target to pay $200,000 a year for 10 years after failing to create as many jobs as it had agreed to.

So what happened?

"Last year we opened a Home Depot distribution center right next door," said County Counselor Rich Eckert.

More at link….

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_tax_fights

[Robert Goren]

Here in Nebraska, we are giving companies tax breaks for adding jobs while they are laying off people. It is all so secret That the state doesn't provide information on who is getting the breaks. The only way we ever find out about is when someone goes over the company's public disclosures with a fine toothed comb.

[Tom]

Tax breaks to encourage employment are a good thing.
But you need to have it clearly defined what you expect in return. You need measurables and dates. When you don't get what you agreed to, the breaks should go away. (We need to apply this idea to government, too.)

I also support tax penalties for layoffs and moving business out of the state, or country. Big ones. Really big ones.

While we must encourage business to provide jobs, we should never just trust them.