Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines has announced a proposal to use economic incentives reimbursed by Dell for —you guessed it —–economic incentives:

Under the proposal, the city would pay Winston-Salem Business Inc. $272,000 to reimburse it for the land it bought for Dell and about $1.5 million would be transferred to the city’s general fund.

Of the remaining money — about $14 million — about $3.7 million could be invested in what Joines described as a large company that might move to the area. Joines said the city had a few projects in mind, but he would not comment on specific projects.

Supposedly a heavy equipment manufacturer that would employ 500 is looking at cities around the South, including Birmingham and Greenville-Spartanburg. The president of a site selection company says Winston-Salem “may be in the running ‘as a stalking horse — to get the other communities to offer more incentives, such as free land.”