In 2004, North Carolinians approved a state constitutional amendment to allow government to speculate in Tax Increment Financing (TIFs). At that time, America’s three most-impoverished cities, Cleveland, Newark, and Detroit, were zealously speculating with TIFs, and losing. Before them, Minnesota cities experienced grief from overestimating the power of government to override market forces with TIFs. It therefore only stands to reason that the town of Woodfin, NC, will experience untold success using the same recipe.
As you may have guessed, the project, known as the Woodfin Town Center, will “increase the tax base of the project’s 220 acres from $5.3 million and add $840,000 in annual sales tax revenue†and “create 1940 temporary jobs over the ten-year construction period and 400 permanent jobs.†The Buncombe County Commissioners are expected to authorize the signing of the paperwork for the bonds tonight.
