Corporate incentives continues its death spiral down the slippery slope that we have been so frequent to warn against.
Take this example from the Triad area where Salem Baking Company (the people that make those Moravian cookies and sugar cakes) is moving their production facilities from Winston-Salem south across the county line to Mocksville in Davie County.
Davie County is offering a $360,000 federal grant, matching $241,000 of that with local money and are applying for a $325,000 grant from the NC Department of Transportation.
All told, $926,000 of taxpayer money is being spent for a company to relocate its main baking facility a few miles down the road.
The Mayor of Winston-Salem is hopping mad. “I’m also disappointed that Triad communities are paying incentives to cause companies to relocate in the Triad, especially when they’re using federal dollars to make that relocation occur,” he said.
As Chad Adams at the Center for Local Innovation points out: "Let’s keep in mind that this is the same community that allowed Dell (currently laying off employees) to go tax free for years and enjoined the state to give over $300 million in incentives to be in Forsyth. Now, the city’s mayor is upset that a neighboring county has played the game like he played it?"
Oh, the irony.
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