Sun
Sep 17 2017
09:33 pm
What Do Taxpayers Get for Tennessee Business Subsidies
By: jbr

It seems that Knoxville/Knox County are keeping track.

Knox County
24 - Number of Grants
$7,920,720 - Total
3,242 - Jobs Committed

More than $2.5 billion in subsidies such as grants, tax breaks and tax credits are given to businesses in the state each year, according to an analysis by the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.

An investigation by the largest four media organizations in Tennessee — The Tennessean, The Commercial Appeal, Knoxville News Sentinel and (Chattanooga) Times Free Press — found statewide that many officials and agencies do not track or disclose the number of jobs created by subsidy deals.

THE COST OF JOBS WHAT DO TAXPAYERS GET FOR TENNESSEE’S BUSINESS SUBSIDIES?

Topics:
yellowdog's picture

Run government like a business?

Submitted by yellowdog on Wed, 2017/09/20 - 11:05am.

All this luring business from one part of the US to another with taxpayers' money is really stupid for the country. And the inability of beneficiaries of the "incentives" to deliver the jobs they brag about and the unwillingness of the states to claw the money back when they don't is unlikely to make America great.

michael kaplan's picture

This needs to be looked at

Submitted by michael kaplan on Tue, 2017/09/19 - 2:44pm.

This needs to be looked at after a period of, say, 5 or 10 years -- or even longer.

bizgrrl's picture

I went to the link and looked

Submitted by bizgrrl on Tue, 2017/09/19 - 3:51pm.

I went to the link and looked at the charts and numbers. Wonder why they didn't highlight the jobs added along with the jobs committed.

Denso in Blount County did pretty good. They got a $5 million grant for 500 jobs in 2015. They already have added 396 jobs.

Tamara Shepherd's picture

*

Submitted by Tamara Shepherd on Tue, 2017/09/19 - 10:40pm.
(in reply to bizgrrl)

Are they permanent jobs? Glassdoor and Indeed.com seem to indicate that Denso hires a lot of temps (as most employers do, these days).

yellowdog's picture

What kind of jobs is missing from the data

Submitted by yellowdog on Wed, 2017/09/20 - 11:10am.
(in reply to Tamara Shepherd)

Some counties and states have minimum standards of pay and benefits and requirements about environmental issues that companies have to meet. It is hard to find out which ones do and what those standards are and whether they actually provide (not just commit) the jobs. This all should be public information but usually is not.

yellowdog's picture

What kind of jobs is missing from the data

Submitted by yellowdog on Wed, 2017/09/20 - 11:10am.
(in reply to Tamara Shepherd)

Some counties and states have minimum standards of pay and benefits and requirements about environmental issues that companies have to meet. It is hard to find out which ones do and what those standards are and whether they actually provide (not just commit) the jobs. This all should be public information but usually is not.

bizgrrl's picture

Have no idea if the jobs are

Submitted by bizgrrl on Wed, 2017/09/20 - 11:13am.
(in reply to Tamara Shepherd)

Have no idea if the jobs are permanent full-time. You'd have to ask someone else. Not sure Glassdoor or Indeed.com have real numbers.

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