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Wisconsin’s $3 billion bid this summer to land Foxconn Technology Group’s first major U.S. factory looked smaller than that of a neighboring state’s, but included an increasingly popular feature that likely made the difference: cash.
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Ten years ago, few states’ primary economic development tools were refundable, a feature that allows businesses to receive cash payments for unused tax credits and incentives, said Jay Biggins, executive managing director at consulting firm Biggins Lacy Shapiro & Co. Today at least 19 states, including Wisconsin, have such programs, according to research by Mr. Biggins’s firm. Michigan doesn’t.
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Wisconsin’s 15-year deal, which could cost taxpayers roughly $15,000 for each Foxconn employee each year, drew criticism from Democratic lawmakers as well as the conservative group Americans for Prosperity, all of whom said that the cost was too high. And a state analysis found taxpayers wouldn’t recoup their investment through increased tax revenues until the fiscal year ending 2043.
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Competition is fierce among cities across the country for Amazon’s second headquarters, estimated to bring up to 50,000 new jobs. As New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie unveiled an offer Tuesday that included $5 billion in state tax incentives for the company to come to Newark, N.J., the Republican dared other states to top it.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/wisconsins-foxconn-deal-highlights-how-states-use-cash-to-sweeten-bids-1508521816Well fuck. State governments are now paying companies, in cash, to do business in their state.
This is just as bad, if not worse, than cities and states giving billions to build NFL stadiums because I think the stadiums are funded primarily through municipal bonds NOT cash.
Is this something we can all dislike together? Breaking those partisan lines?