From the Durham Herald-Sun:
“Durham County officials have pulled a $400,000 incentive package because of confusion over the incentives’ influence in luring the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants to the city.”
I guess the incentive was ready to go until the County Manager got word that the incentives weren’t really that big of a factor in the company moving there. Oops…
But let’s assume for a moment that the incentives DID motivate a company to move to any given area of NC. What message does that send? It says that our tax policies, our regulatory requirements and maybe even our native work force is insufficient to attract or keep businesses without special enticements. Pretty sad isn’t it?
I believe in value-based selling. No discounts, no incentives. You create a product, or in this case an economic atmosphere, where people line up to get on board without tax-payer bribes. (That’s what I think incentives really are.)
Also, by offering massive incentives to large companies that aren’t even in an area yet, what does that say to the businesses that are already in the area and supporting payrolls? What does that say to the businesses that have been paying their share of the taxes only to see a chunk of that money go to a potential competitor for a share of that markets resources?
Want to see a pallet of incentives that would send NC soaring into the stratosphere? Reduce the tax burden, reduce regulations and have true competition in education so that there is a work force available that is second to none.
There – I feel better now. I just needed to vent.
