WRAL’s Tyler Dukes reports on details that have been revealed about North Carolina’s pitch for a new auto plant. A key component: North Carolina’s low tax rates. Dukes reports on the documents:
“Seeing as other states may have a higher face-value to their incentive package, someone (maybe the Secretary) should emphasize the lower total cost of doing business in North Carolina (i.e. our incentives may not be as much as other states, but our taxes are also much lower than other states like SC),” Chris Chung, chief executive officer of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, the public-private organization that works with the commerce department to recruit businesses to the state, wrote in an email to Commerce Secretary Tony Copeland.
Valued at $565 million, the tax savings alone make up more than one-third of the incentive package. That emphasizes the point tax reformers have been making for years, says Joe Coletti, a senior fellow at the conservative John Locke Foundation who reviewed the incentive offer Tuesday.
“When you cut taxes for everybody, you’re not picking winners and losers,” Coletti said. “It’s the high point in this package.”
Yes, North Carolina’s tax cuts and tax reforms are historic and consequential.