In Greensboro’s recent negotiations to try to bribe lure Boeing to NC, it has been disclosed they offered free land, site prep work at no charge and additional rail access. Where would the money come from? Why, taxpayers of course. But no need to worry about that little detail apparently. We’ve seen it before and here it is again. From a Triad Business Journal report:
All told, the incentives certainly would have run into millions of dollars, likely tens of millions, but The Business Journal has not yet ascertained an exact total. Exactly where funding for the offer would come from wasn’t known, even to those who put it together, partly because of the short time period for preparing the proposal and meeting Boeing’s deadline.
“We just knew we had to make it happen, and we had support from elected local leadership to put all of the pieces in places,” Lynch said.
Greensboro didn’t get the deal. Charlotte tried as well with offers of “304 acres of property inside the boundaries of Charlotte Douglas International Airport, and then…another 100 acres of adjacent land with the 27 buildings.”
Ultimately Boeing decide to stay in Washington after all. But not without massive efforts to give away gobs of North Carolina taxpayers’ hard earned money.
This time we dodged the bullet but there’s always a next time – and more of your money to give away – in the great incentives game.