Greensboro News & Record
August 12, 1995
The Incentives Game (Ed.)
Copyright © 1995, Greensboro News & Record
For a disadvantaged state, North Carolina does all right.
''People are worried all over the state. If all the incentives go away,
then prospective companies go away and no jobs come.'' This was the reaction
of a spokesman for the North Carolina Department of Commerce to Thursday's
court decision striking down financial incentives for industrial recruitment.
It shows how far removed from reality true believers sometimes get.
The lawsuit questioned whether giving tax dollars or special concessions
to an industrial prospect qualifies a ''public purpose'' as required by
the state constitution for the use of public funds. A trial judge in Winston-Salem
has now ruled that it does not. Building streets and water and sewer systems
is clearly putting tax dollars to public use. Improvements offered to some
property owners, but not all, are in another category.
We'll have no definitive answer on where exactly the line should be drawn
until after the state Supreme Court hears the Winston-Salem case on appeal.
Meanwhile, the doomsayers ought to take a look around. They're right that
some other states and localities go well beyond what North Carolina has
been inclined to offer. But some of them have come to regret their enthusiasm.
(Alabama may never recover from its good fortune in landing a Mercedes-Benz
factory.) All the while, North Carolina has been booming.
Sure, we miss some hot prospects. In a competitive world you never win
them all. Some companies are determined to squeeze you for every possible
dollar in concessions. But the solid ones are not so short-sighted. They
value good government, good schools, low labor costs, a clean environment
and good transportation. So do our existing corporate citizens, the ones
whose taxes may be converted into incentives to attract potential competitors.
One judge has reached a decision, but the incentives debate is far from
over, and the hyperbole has only just begun.
Used with permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this article may be
reproduced, translated, or transmitted in any form or by any means without
permission in writing from the Greensboro News & Record.
Copyright ©1995, Greensboro News & Record.
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