Some incentive programs are better than others.

New Jersey's Transit Village tax incentives encourage mass transit use by encouraging transit accessible job development. The result is creating workplaces that are transit accessible: relieving roadway congestion without expanding roads; generating revenue for transit services; reducing roadway maintenance costs; reducing transportation costs for employees. These aren't tangible benefits that are easily calculated.

There is no transparency nor accountability on these "incentives". The local benefits are trickle-down at best. Businesses happily take the money and run when it suits them.

The credits need to be directly tied to the number of local employees:
- Jersey City property tax credits should be a credit for each JC resident employed at the firm.
- NJ tax credits should be a credit for each NJ resident.
- Federal credits should be a credit for each US resident.

Businesses need an incentive to create and keep jobs local. Voters need to see how much they are paying for each job.

New Jersey gives away $678M per year in incentives. That's $77 per capita and 2 cents per dollar of the state budget.

Here's a list of NJ incentives (with cities listed):

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/20 ... ent-incentives.html?hp#NJ

Quote:

If I were you I wouldn't wager any money on that bet. You'd lose it.

Does the article mention the incentives the NY Times received to build their fancy new headquarters in midtown Manhattan a few years ago? Somehow I'm betting it doesn't mention that.

Quote:
The article is based on an extensive database of over 100K cases and doesn't mention the two cases you mentioned. But, yes, it's corporate blackmail, and the article talks about that.

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I didn?t read the full NYT?s piece?don?t know if these two NJ?s moves were mentioned. Isn't it corporate blackmail..as in?if you don?t give me a break I am out of here?

(a 9 mile move)

Panasonic to Move U.S. Headquarters to Newark for $102 Million
By John Gittelsohn - Apr 20, 2011 12:01 AM ET

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04 ... wark-for-102-million.html

** ****
(a couple of blocks move)

N.J. Giving Prudential $210M Tax Credit for Building New Office Tower
June 4, 2012

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/east/2012/06/04/249937.htm

anyone know specific examples from JC? I seem to remember a deal cut for Goya foods recently. No doubt many of the finance companies a la Goldman got sweetheart deals to come over to JC...

The New York Times has a major story about how state and local governments are giving companies all sorts of economic incentives and getting NOTHING in return. Sound familiar?

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/02/us/ ... roll-corporations.html?hp

"The Times analyzed more than 150,000 awards and created a searchable database of incentive spending. The survey was supplemented by interviews with more than 100 officials in government and business organizations as well as corporate executives and consultants.

A portrait arises of mayors and governors who are desperate to create jobs, outmatched by multinational corporations and short on tools to fact-check what companies tell them. Many of the officials said they feared that companies would move jobs overseas if they did not get subsidies in the United States.

Over the years, corporations have increasingly exploited that fear, creating a high-stakes bazaar where they pit local officials against one another to get the most lucrative packages. States compete with other states, cities compete with surrounding suburbs, and even small towns have entered the race with the goal of defeating their neighbors."