What's good for the goose is good for the gander. Every single neighborhood in the state should get balkanized into a separate tax and development district and fight other districts for business. And build big forts. Big forts should be added to the stimulus package at once.
But no, darn it. A New Mexico Senator with a clue may thwart the race to the bottom between communities inherent in the present form of TIDDs. From a press release:
"The problem, said Senator Fischmann, "is that most of the
so-called 'new revenue' comes from businesses that will relocate from
elsewhere in the state. For example, a market analysis of the Sun Cal
project by the Concord Group estimates that 90 per cent of the
industrial tenants in their new development will relocate from
elsewhere in the Albuquerque market area. The result is that the tax
set asides come out of existing revenues that have simply moved from
one community to the TIDD subsidized area." Fischmann points out that
under this scenario, TIDDs could plunge the state into a long term
budget crisis. "This is exactly what happened in Illinois in the late
80's and early 90's under a similarly-structured TIDD law," he said.
Studies involving $2.5 billion worth of TIDDs in St. Louis revealed
there was little or no net gain in revenues so the subsidies came to
$370,370 for each job generated.
Senator Fischmann has tackled the problem by introducing SB 576.
The measure amends the definition of tax increments to limit it to tax
revenue generated from businesses that are new to the state. "This will
insure that existing revenues are not cannibalized by TIDDs, and will
create incentives for developers to attract new businesses and economic
activity to the state," said Senator Fischmann, adding, "Developers
would no longer receive subsidies for enticing economic activity away
from other New Mexico communities and into their developments.
edited over and over for stupid typos. sue me. 6:55am
Comments