news-record.com

As Guilford County Commissioners head into their meeting tonight, former state Supreme Court Justice Robert Orr has something for them to consider in a letter he wrote (which ran in print in the N&R).

In short, the message from Orr is that local government should get out of the incentives business. The county is looking at a $1.3 million plan that would open up incentives to businesses in the community that add a certain amount of taxable property value.

From his letter:

In Raleigh, Governor Perdue recently charged the members of her Economic Development Board  “to put into place a system of economic development that works for every county and every city in this state”.  Meanwhile, the Guilford County Commissioners continue to wrestle with a proposal to use $1.3 million in tax funds for economic incentives to small businesses – a proposal promoted as a way to support small businesses that don’t get the multi-million dollar incentive deals that the Dells and Googles get.

-snip-

  Finally, an economic development policy that pits one North Carolina community against another strongly favors the large wealthy counties like Mecklenburg and Wake at the expense of smaller and less affluent areas in our state.  Surely an economic development policy that allows our larger, economically strong cities and counties to raid their struggling fellow North Carolina communities of desperately needed jobs and businesses is fundamentally flawed, if not straight out unconstitutional. 

                I recognize that North Carolina is not getting out of the incentives business but if the state is negotiating an incentives package for a large corporate entity, there is no reason for local governments to be thrown like lambs to the slaughter in further negotiations about the final site.  And there is certainly no reason to encourage local governments to try and compete against each other in the unfair world of targeted incentives bidding.  Getting local governments out of the incentives business will save millions in taxpayer dollars at the local level that can be better used for education, infrastructure improvements, public safety, and yes, tax relief.  If this is done then economic development dollars at the local level can be spent more effectively in recruiting new businesses and encouraging existing businesses rather than pouring tax dollars down the proverbial drain.

Read the full letter here.