Authors: Greg LeRoy
ISBN-13: 9781576753156, ISBN-10: 1576753158
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publ Inc
Date Published: June 2005
Edition: (Non-applicable)
Exploring in depth the abuses of tax breaks by large corporations and government through the "economic development" of communities, LeRoy offers a series of commonsense reforms that would give taxpayers powerful new tools to redirect monies in ways that will really pay off.
Founder and director of the nonprofit center Good Jobs First, LeRoy offers a parade of damning case studies showing why communities should not woo corporations with subsidies. Corporate tactics, he finds, include quickly shuttered subsidized facilities, union busting and jobs that pay below the poverty line. Rewritten tax codes, which focus on sales taxes but ignore payroll and property taxes, as well as other tax abatements, undermine schools; most stadiums and convention centers further bleed public monies. Moreover, subsidies generally support suburban sprawl rather than accessibility to public transit used by the poor. Some corporate location consultants work both for companies and governments-"a sad reflection" of a disorganized public sector. On the corporate minus side, tax incentives to relocate, he shows, are dwarfed by labor, transport and utility costs. The upshot? Corporations are paying 28% less in state and local taxes than 20 years ago. LeRoy's suggested reforms include greater disclosure about subsidy deals; money-back guarantees if companies don't fulfill their pledges; requiring subsidized jobs to meet local average wages; closing corporate loopholes; and making sure every deal is approved by elected officials rather than appointed ones. (July) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Introduction : money for nothing | 1 | |
1 | The tax dodgers are coming! : the tax dodgers are coming! | 9 |
2 | Site location 101 : how companies decide where to expand or relocate | 47 |
3 | Fantus and the rise of the economic war among the states | 68 |
4 | "Single sales factor" and the corporate assault on the income tax | 92 |
5 | Property tax abatements and your local school | 115 |
6 | Subsidizing sprawl, subsidizing Wal-Mart | 128 |
7 | Loot, loot, loot for the home team | 157 |
8 | Shifting the burden | 168 |
9 | Building a new consensus for reform | 185 |