If you subsidize it, they will come. That’s the new fortune-cookie meme circulating between economic development commissions and local leaders. What’s behind this new crazy is a tax-happy philosophy that will inevitably reach a tipping point as officials continue to spend beyond their citizens’ means. A city quickly approaching this critical mass is Charlotte, as this opinion piece points out, making use of the most recent “By the Numbers” Policy Report. Sadly, the metropolitan ambitions of a growing city are not the only catalyst for spending outside of ones means. Caldwell County could be the next site for a Google computer facility. Tax breaks mounting to $3 million a year are a pretty carrot, but as Joe Coletti reminds us in the Greensboro News & Record, they are an unfair tax policy that discourages entrepreneurial activity.
What’s In Your Wallet?