news-record.com

There may still be hidden worms in North Carolina's deal with Apple.

Despite a deep budget hole that requires spending cuts and tax increases to fill, state legislators rushed to approve $46 million in tax breaks for the California-based computer company. Apple plans to develop a data center worth $1 billion in North Carolina. Despite the enormous investment, the facility will produce only 50 jobs. Exactly where it will be has not yet been revealed.

Sketchy information released last week by the N.C. Department of Commerce hints that Apple has been promised more sweeteners, making references to "local incentives." It also indicates that Apple executives wanted to build on the benefits granted Google in 2007 when it won incentives worth $270 million over 30 years to place a similar facility in Caldwell County. That gives the impression the total bill for Apple will be greater than $270 million when all is said and done.

Copies of e-mail correspondence show that N.C. Commerce officials worked hard to woo Apple and that they were supported wholeheartedly by Gov. Bev Perdue's office and legislative leaders. They were after a big prize, and they got it. Credit to them for that.

But it's hard to cheer the outcome without seeing the price tag. That's the position the state's taxpayers occupy now. It is possible to give away too much, and when each big deal leads the next company to push for a bigger deal, paying too much is inevitable.

Meanwhile, other North Carolina companies are shutting down and laying off workers, driving up a devastating unemployment rate. Fifty Apple jobs won't offset those losses, although its investment will yield some dividends, even at discounted tax rates.

Enough to matter? The public is likely never to know and can only hope that state officials aren't buying an Apple that's full of worms.