If you haven’t had a chance yet, please take time to read this article in today’s News & Observer updating the Google project in Caldwell County. If this doesn’t emphasize how fundamentally flawed the incentive shell game is, I don’t know what will.
It turns out that after waiving Google’s property taxes for the next 30 years, the Caldwell County Commissioners turned around and raised property taxes on everyone else by 22.2%!
Unbelievable.
Hopefully as more things like this are revealed, the tide will begin to turn on this incentive game. Would Caldwell County residents still have supported the Google deal if they knew their property tax bills were going up by nearly one-fourth? I guess they’ll have a referendum on that next fall when those Commissioners stand for re-election.
Leave a Comment