Sunday, January 03, 2010

Strapped cities review corporate tax breaks

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.

Read on.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Yep, if companies come in for all the tax breaks and they can't hold up their end...yep, they should pay their taxes. Glad to see some are holding their feet to the fire on this one.