Given the fact that this happened in the state of Georgia, it definitely ranks in the “man bites dog” category of news.
Believe it or not, the DeKalb County Commission actually voted on Tuesday not to give public tax funds to a private developer for a private business project. Will wonders never cease? Did lightning strike the commissioners dead as they took that negative vote?
The vote involved the old GM auto plant in Doraville, which was closed a few years ago. The property has been unused ever since. A private developer is interested in building there, which makes sense given that the property is advantageously located at I-85 and I-285 in the northern part of the county.
The developer, however, wanted the county commission to give him $36 million in federal stimulus funds to help pay for the property. Despite some heavy lobbying from CEO Burrell Ellis, the commissioners voted 5-2 not to give away taxpayers’ money to a private businessman.
Ellis, as you would expect, used all the tired arguments that have been heard for years as to why this public money should have been given to a private developer, the primary argument being that the project would supposedly “create” 9,000 jobs.
Funny, but that’s what we’ve heard from the General Assembly each time it has voted to give a tax exemption or favorable tax treatment to a business lobbyist or special interest group. All these dozens of tax breaks, lawmakers have told us, are going to magically create all these jobs and turn Georgia into a “jobs magnet.”
Somehow, it never happens. Despite all these wonderful, pro-business, jobs-friendly tax breaks that have been doled out by the Legislature, Georgia’s unemployment rate has remained at a higher level than the national jobless rate for 34 consecutive months. Think about that for a moment. If all of these tax breaks were going to create so many jobs, don’t you think the state’s unemployment rate would at least have been a little better than the national rate? But it hasn’t.
If someone like Burrell Ellis tries to sell you on the idea that giving millions of tax dollars to a business interest is going to create jobs, grab your wallet and run away as fast as you can. Georgia’s experience with tax breaks teaches us that it ain’t gonna happen.
The GM property will be a desirable location for development purposes at some point in time. If the economy ever improves enough to justify the investment, a private developer will find the financing to build there and will not need $36 million in tax funds.
Meanwhile, kudos to the DeKalb commissioners, who will use the $36 million in stimulus money for what it should have been spent for all along: to upgrade the county’s water and sewer facilities.
