Three Subsidy Stories You Might Have Missed This Week
1. Amazon has been awarded more than a dozen deals adding up to about $380 million across New York, many involving local industrial development agencies.
In total, there are currently 108 industrial development agencies in New York state. As Amazon has built warehouses across New York, the agencies have consistently offered generous tax incentives. According to the Good Jobs First tracker, which tracks Amazon deals nationwide, Amazon has been awarded more than a dozen deals adding up to about $380 million across the state, many deals involving industrial development agencies.
2. At Boondoggle, Pat Garofalo writes about how subsidies for chip manufacturers are turning into the new HQ2 contest. Samsung, for example, has played New York and other states against each other.
[…] Responsibility for ensuring a steady supply of chips shouldn’t be foisted onto local taxpayers and local school districts in the form of massive subsidies that lead to reduced services or the formation of company towns dependent on continued corporate benevolence. Chip manufacturers are trying to start a subsidy war, using serious issues around supply chains and security to collect handouts at all levels of government, without the sort of accountability measures that will ensure taxpayers actually receive some level of surety for their investments. It needs to be stopped in its tracks.
3. Want to know how tax-increment financing and Opportunity Zones work? Good Jobs First has a guide to answer all your burning questions.
[…] We get loads of questions about Tax Increment Financing, a widely used yet poorly understood economic development subsidy. How it works can sound complicated, yet the developers who champion it make it seem so simple – look at this free-lunch way to grow our local economy and create jobs! The reality in no way resembles that oft-repeated narrative.
If you got this from a friend, sign up here. Subsidy Sheet is written by Tom Speaker, Policy Analyst at Reinvent Albany. Please send questions and tips to tom [at] reinventalbany.org. We look forward to hearing from you!