CHICAGO – Cash-strapped communities have a message for corporations that promised jobs in return for tax breaks: A deal's a deal.
As the economy sputters along, municipalities struggling to fix roads, fund schools and pay bills increasingly are rescinding tax abatements to companies that don't hire enough workers, that lay them off or that close up shop. At the same time, they're sharpening new incentive deals, leaving no doubt what is expected of companies and what will happen if they don't deliver.
"We will roll out the red carpet as much as we can (but) they are going to honor the contract," said Brendon Gallagher, an alderman in DeKalb, Ill., where Target Corp. got abatements from the city, county, school district and other taxing bodies after promising at least 500 jobs at a local distribution center.
So when the company came up 66 workers short in 2009, Target got word its next tax bill would be jumping almost $600,000 — more than half of which goes to the local school district, where teachers and programs have been cut as coffers dried up.
Rightardia wonders how many cities and other municipalities have given corporations sweetheart deals on jobs and then looked the other way when the corporations didn't deliver. Congratulations to Chicago for sticking it to the man!
Democratic activists should send Freedom of Information Act requests to the their local county and city governments to see if the hey are reviewing these corporate sweetheart deals for compliance. If not, the corporations should have their taxes increased like in Chicago.
We can beat the T-Baggers in their own game by attacking their corporate masters!
Sample FOIA government request:
I want to verify that __________________ (municipality) is monitoring tax incentive agreements with corporations who have relocated into __________________ (municipality) in the past three years. This request is primarily concerned with the employment issues in the agreements.
Request you identify any corporations that are out of compliance with these tax incentive agreements and remediation efforts the government has taken to recover the lost taxes relating to corporations who were unable to meet agreed upon employment requirements.
I request a waiver of all fees for this request. I understand that decisions to waive or reduce fees are based on whether disclosure of the information "is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to the public understanding of the operations or activities of the Government".
I also understand I must have the capability and intention to disseminate the information to the public.The FOIA requires a response within 10 days.
Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_tax_fights
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