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Reining in Business Incentives?

June 3, 2014

  A short piece by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) adds to a growing number of calls for state and local governments to significantly limit their use of business incentives for economic development such as tax breaks, cash grants, and the like.  The CFR “Policy Innovation Memo” is titled … Read more

When May NC Local Governments Pay an Economic Development Incentive?

December 17, 2013

News outlets regularly report about the latest company that was lured to North Carolina through the payment of a cash economic development incentive by a local government and the state. Local government cash incentives often take the form of an annual cash payment to a company that is contingent on … Read more

Did the NC Supreme Court put cash economic development incentives in jeopardy?

December 18, 2012

Cash economic development incentives are widely used by local governments to induce companies to locate in their jurisdictions. A 2006 survey indicated that more than 40% of North Carolina local governments employ cash incentives for business recruitment. And yet, no statute contains language specif … Read more

Local government assistance for a real estate development project—without making a grant

September 18, 2012

Al Czervik is a real estate developer who has invested in several shopping malls and mixed-use developments across the Tar Heel state. He is planning a mixed use development called “Gopher Commons” in your community, but “in order to make the numbers work,” he claims that he needs local government a … Read more

Is Interstate Competition Required for Economic Development Incentives?

March 15, 2011

A company’s sole facility has been located in North Carolina for the past decade, but the company recently decided to move its facility to a new location in order to expand its operations. It has three choices: (1) move to an available facility in the same county in which it is currently located, (2 … Read more

Valid cash incentive or illegal tax rebate?

October 28, 2009

Tyler Mulligan is a School of Government faculty member. One news outlet reported that in exchange for constructing a data center in North Carolina, Apple Inc. will be reimbursed by North Carolina local governments for “50 percent of tax revenue on real estate property — buildings and land — and 85 … Read more