BY LIZ FARMER | OCTOBER 13, 2016
As state and local governments grapple with fewer resources for things like infrastructure or social services, many of them have opted to contract those responsibilities out to the private sector. But a new report warns that doing so may be widening the gap between the haves and the have-nots.
In major metropolitan areas, using tax incentives to lure businesses from one part of the region to another can sometimes seem like a big family fight. In the Washington, D.C., area, for instance, several jurisdictions are vying to become the new headquarters of the FBI, which is currently located in the district. If the FBI moves outside of D.C., Maryland or Virginia can claim "new" jobs. But the net gain to the metro area is negligible, save the temporary work created by new construction.
In nowhere does this chess match seem more futile than in Kansas City, which sits in both Kansas and Missouri. The two states have long competed with each other to woo businesses across the state line. AMC Theaters, Applebee's and JP Morgan Retirement are just a few businesses that have crossed the border in recent times. So much money is involved that the tax incentives battle has been dubbed the Kansas City Border War.
But recently there's been a concerted effort to call a cease fire. In 2014, the Missouri General Assembly passed a bill that effectively ended the state's tax incentive program in Kansas City after a group of 17 businesses in the two-state region lobbied both governors for it. For the law to go into effect, though, Kansas has to approve a similar bill. The state has until Aug. 28 to do so; otherwise, the "deal" is dead.
States like Delaware and Nevada have long been criticized by transparency advocates for allowing Americans to use them as tax havens. But a recent document leak revealed that such corporation-friendly states may be helping foreign nationals hide potentially illicit assets as well.
Earlier this month, 11.5 million confidential documents were leaked from a Panamanian law firm, exposing how some of the world's richest people hide assets in shell companies to avoid paying taxes. It’s the largest leak in history, and among the so-called Panama Papers' many revelations was that the seventh most popular place to set up shell corporations was in Nevada.
More than 1,000 companies have used Nevada to hide their money. Delaware, South Dakota and Wyoming also emerged as popular places to stash cash.
Some of these states actively market themselves as quick and easy places to set up corporations. Take Nevada. Its website points visitors to its WhyNevada.Com to find out “why NV ranks as a top state for commercial filings," highlighting its favorable tax structure. Meanwhile, Delaware’s most recent financial report touted another record year for the number of new entities registered in the state. Delaware’s 1.1 million registered corporations outnumber the people who actually live there.
States give out billions to businesses and corporations each year in tax breaks to keep them within their borders. But tracking how these tax incentives are spent -- and whether they even work -- has been an incredibly tricky business.
Back in 2000, Good Jobs First, which follows corporate tax subsidies, released a report that looked at 122 audits of state economic development programs in 44 states. What it found was that auditors were having trouble doing their jobs because "they are hampered by lack of data and objectives."
The climate has improved somewhat since then, says the group's president, Greg LeRoy. But it's been a long, state-by-state slog.
Posted: 6:55 pm
Thu, March 18, 2010
By Liz Farmer
They call it March Madness for a reason — and it’s not always about what happens on the basketball court.
During the first two days of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, which started Thursday, offices around the country are transformed, and otherwise normal employees can become strangely insane.
Conservative business attire is ditched for unfashionably bright team colors, pizza and other junk food replaces the well-rounded lunch, and the only conferences going on in conference rooms are during commercial breaks to discuss how everyone’s bracket predictions are faring.
The tournament can create quite a dilemma for people when normal life interferes with their alma maters’ games.
Richard Jaklitsch of the Jaklitsch Law Group in Upper Marlboro faced that problem when he and other co-workers wanted to watch the University of Maryland take on the University of North Carolina-Wilmington in the first round of the tournament. It was 2003 and they were attending an Anne Arundel Bar Association event, and he had convinced the hotel bar manager to put the game on the television.
But the manager refused to play it with sound because the hotel had hired a singer to entertain its bar crowd.
The Daily Record (Baltimore, MD) June 24, 2010
By Liz Farmer
Daily Record Business Writer
In what used to be a quintessential bedroom community just outside the Capital Beltway, Anthony Greenberg is standing in a gleaming silver tower that looks like it should be 13 miles south in Washington.
He pointed 23 stories down at the White Flint Mall in North Bethesda.
"From here you can get a really good view of what Rockville Pike used to be and what Rockville Pike is becoming," Greenberg, a developer with Chevy Chase-based JBG Companies, said.
The Daily Record (Baltimore, MD) May 9, 2010
By Liz Farmer
Daily Record Business Writer
The drumbeat of dire warnings began a month earlier.
"Traffic will be a major issue. ... Please begin preparation now!" cried the weekly e-mails to city office workers from the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore, forecasting a doomsday-like scenario for May 4.
The lines for the Get Motivated! seminar began forming that day at 7 a.m. - an hour before show time - outside the 1st Mariner Arena. A diverse crowd of men and women of all ages dressed in everything from suits to jeans and T-shirts, they were all waiting for a day-long dose of inspiration.
Police did their best to keep traffic moving. Many seminar attendees parked at M&T Bank Stadium and took a shuttle to the arena. But by 7:45 a.m. the streets were clogged.
While the sounds of traffic cops' whistles and honking horns outside the arena conveyed mounting frustration, there was a concert-like feel inside - long lines at the concessions and bathrooms and an excited hum in the crowd.
Posted: 1:00 am Mon, October 13, 2008
By Liz Farmer
Daily Record Business Writer
“The Fate of America” is on sale for 50 cents.
“Eugene McCarthy: the Rise and Fall of Postwar American Liberalism” is going for $1.
Short stacks of these hardcover books sit in 90-percent-off bins at the C-Mart in Joppatowne, a twisted commentary on the economic predicament that the longtime discount retailer has found itself in as it empties its inventory to permanently close its doors Saturday.
“It’s really sad, it’s like the vultures are circling,” said Jen Synowczyski, 35, who got her first outfit from C-Mart when she was 8 years old.
Synowczyski and several other Mon
