For decades, politicians of both parties have touted the glories of massive tax-break deals. Whether it’s a governor announcing an auto assembly plant or a mayor breaking ground for a new mall, they invariably take credit for the jobs and claim that tax breaks did the trick.
But the costs of such deals and the programs that bankroll them have seldom been fully disclosed. The details are usually buried in different state, county, and city agencies. And of course, the costs are suffered by taxpayers over decades, long after the politicians win their re-election.
Taxpayers in Canton, Mississippi, for example, were shocked to learn that the Nissan assembly plant they thought cost $295 million in subsidies actually cost $1.3 billion. The smaller figure they remembered from a long-ago special vote by the state legislature. But $1 billion more was revealed in local records, where long-term property tax abatements were impoverishing schools, and in an obscure state program in which Nissan workers were actually paying taxes to the company.
Activists seeking to rein in corporate welfare have long argued that if the true costs of proposed deals were as obvious as the alleged benefits, many deals would never happen. Precious public dollars would be preserved for vital public services.
Well, in 2017 the true costs are going to become obvious.
For the first time in U.S. history, the costs of corporate welfare are going to be revealed, coast to coast. Tens of billions of dollars never before disclosed will become visible to taxpayers—and some people say they might have better uses for the money.
The price-tag data won’t arrive a moment too soon: As school districts and other local and state government bodies finally report these huge costs, they will also be struggling to cope with big cuts in federal aid soon to be enacted by the Trump administration and the Republican-led Congress. For activists fighting to preserve fair public services, the new numbers will become ready ammunition.
Why will all this data suddenly appear? Why will more than 50,000 local and state government bodies disclose all this spending? Because GASB says so. That’s the ...........
Disclosing the Costs of Corporate Welfare
But the costs of such deals and the programs that bankroll them have seldom been fully disclosed. The details are usually buried in different state, county, and city agencies. And of course, the costs are suffered by taxpayers over decades, long after the politicians win their re-election.
Taxpayers in Canton, Mississippi, for example, were shocked to learn that the Nissan assembly plant they thought cost $295 million in subsidies actually cost $1.3 billion. The smaller figure they remembered from a long-ago special vote by the state legislature. But $1 billion more was revealed in local records, where long-term property tax abatements were impoverishing schools, and in an obscure state program in which Nissan workers were actually paying taxes to the company.
Activists seeking to rein in corporate welfare have long argued that if the true costs of proposed deals were as obvious as the alleged benefits, many deals would never happen. Precious public dollars would be preserved for vital public services.
Well, in 2017 the true costs are going to become obvious.
For the first time in U.S. history, the costs of corporate welfare are going to be revealed, coast to coast. Tens of billions of dollars never before disclosed will become visible to taxpayers—and some people say they might have better uses for the money.
The price-tag data won’t arrive a moment too soon: As school districts and other local and state government bodies finally report these huge costs, they will also be struggling to cope with big cuts in federal aid soon to be enacted by the Trump administration and the Republican-led Congress. For activists fighting to preserve fair public services, the new numbers will become ready ammunition.
Why will all this data suddenly appear? Why will more than 50,000 local and state government bodies disclose all this spending? Because GASB says so. That’s the ...........
Disclosing the Costs of Corporate Welfare