Friday, May 26, 2006

Who's Killing the County's Budget? the IDB!

Smart City drills the Industrial Development Board for giving away tax freezes like hot dogs at a rally!

I am highlighting selected portions here:

The company paying the average wages of $22,880, Knox St. Clair, a supplier of interior doors and windows, is paying so little that its 32 new employees will be eligible for food stamps and human services on the day they start their new jobs. In other words, taxpayers are not only subsidizing the company’s bottom line with the tax freezes, but we may also be subsidizing it by providing its employees public assistance, public health and human services programs.

These kinds of tax freezes say volumes about the IDB’s long-term vision of Memphis and Shelby County as a center for the low-wage, low-skill jobs that it so easily approves. It certainly didn’t engender any great feelings of pride for us when an official with one of the companies took his tax freeze and praised Memphis’ “highly-skilled distribution workforce.” That, in a phrase, is the legacy of the IDB.

Now, who wants to know why the County has a budget problem? Go read the rest!

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