posted August 22, 2008
I was going to write a long drawn out letter giving the reasons that Volkswagen was a bad deal for the taxpayer, but I changed my mind. Furthermore, when we were working on the campaigns for our school board candidates, a couple of smart alecks called me by name for being "wrong" about a car company coming to Hamilton County.
Someone suggested that I and other naysayers eat crow in various forms of preparation. Well, I will be happy to eat my crow when you guys eat yours about KIA and Toyota. In both of these cases we lost because we offered a sane incentive package, not the insane one we offered VW. Without some of us malcontents preaching about the need for manufacturing here it would have never happened, so forgive me if I am not too embarrassed.
In the case of VW, my prediction was based on the assumption that the incentive package would be similar to KIA/Toyota. If you would have told me that we were going to offer a package that was twice that amount, and going up every day, one that set an all-time, worldwide record for incentive packages, I would have predicted that VW was a sure thing. Even then, I could have been wrong, because even with all that money, our negatives almost made them go to Alabama anyway.
Now everyone is taking credit. Politicians, foundations, downtown advocates, etc. are all knocking each other out of the way to get on camera. There is an epidemic of shoulder injuries from these people trying to pat themselves on the back. A good example was Tom Griscom's laughable Sunday TFP column that said it was the wonderful downtown, that I affectionately call "Redneck Disney Land," that was the reason that VW came to town. He even took credit for Greenville, S.C.'s downtown which was not done with private money like ours. In that article, he didn't even mention the record incentive package we offered. I am sure that didn't have anything to do with it.
I mean we lost KIA and Toyota with the beautiful downtown and less incentives. You think maybe it was the incentives? No, couldn't be.
He further stated that it only took 15 years of an empty Enterprise South to tell people like me "I told you so." Tom, Tom, in those 15 years we could have had 30-40 businesses in Enterprise South that employed just as many people and businesses who actually pay their fair share of taxes.
As a business owner in this county for over 10 years who has been a good corporate citizen, created jobs and paid his taxes on time every year, I resent our so-called leaders giving tax breaks to whoever they please. A foreign company gets out of paying their fair share of taxes while local companies and taxpayers subsidize them. What is wrong with this picture? It is sort of like the government can decide that they have the right to tax blondes and let brunettes off the hook. Don't think that this is that far off, they now want to let old folks off the hook for some of their property taxes while increasing the taxes on the rest of us pay. It is patently discriminatory, unfair, pandering for votes, and a slap in the face to us suckers who try to do the right thing.
So next time that my taxes are due, I am going to take the VW discount. That discount means that I will not pay any higher percentage than they do. I will figure out what in the heck the "school tax" is and only pay that amount just like my new hero, VW. I encourage all my business brothers and sisters to do the same. Taxation should be fair and even handed and not giving out tax goodies to big business for whatever reason local politicians dream up.
Tim Price
jat-55@msn.com
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In response to Mr. Price wanting the same deal as VW, when he can employ several thousand people who will contribute to our tax base then I hope he gets the same deal.
Susan Lee
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Ms. Lee,
Taxation should be fair and even-handed. Mr. Price said he would like to pay the same percentage. That sounds fair to me. He employs people, and they spend their money here.
What is the difference at the V-Dub plant? The city isn't handing over land in a couple of decades to Mr. Price for one. Go back and reread the article, take off your VW specs and think about it. If 30-40 smaller businesses took up that space and paid their fair share of taxes (unlike what VW will be doing), we would come out better.
You are also not seeing that all the small and medium companies, and even the citizens of Hamilton County, will pick up the tab for all the taxes that aren't getting paid by VW. So when 'your' taxes are raised, just smile, shut your mouth and write the check. Oh, and thank VW for that.
Michael Jackson
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I went to the Bureau of Labor statistics website and discovered that there are over 230,000 people employed in the Chattanooga area. Volkswagen with only 2,000 jobs will be a small portion of that number. I also found on the Internet that small business is the backbone of our economy with over 70% of the jobs created. Ms. Lee, your comments and the actions of our officials show a wanton disrespect for this fact. Without them, there would be no school money or anything else in this city.
Large companies make up a handful of our private jobs with most of the biggest employers being the government. Small businesses don't need these huge incentives to start or operate and they are a much better deal for the taxpayer in the long run. Though, they don't give big campaign contributions and political photo opportunities.
Mr. Price, as usual, is right about the fact that it is a slap in the face to all the small businesses that keep our economy moving. It remains to be seen if he is right about Volkswagen. We won't know for years. I do know that the track record of these same officials on jobs has been poor at best so the chances that they are right on Volkswagen are very slim. Bravo, Mr. Price.
Robert Thompson
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"Taxes are reciprocal, when the government uses my money for someone else's views and opinions, the Republic is over". John Adams
Chuck Davis
Lookout Mountain
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As the author is so fond of implying - where's the facts?
You say the VW incentives were insane vs. the sane incentives offered to Kia/Toyota, and again say the VW incentives were "more than twice" those offered Kia/Toyota but offer no numbers or sources.
And the number of total jobs referred to in the media is 10,000 (taking VW direct plus ancillary suppliers, etc.)
I would submit that if Mr. Price or any other reputable business had a valid "plan" to create such numbers, he would and should indeed demand similar incentives. Small business is the backbone of any economy, but a few plums sure help.
I have not seen any information as of yet related to the Greenville, S.C. comparison to Chattanooga re: BMW's affect on that community's economy. I believe we all would be well served to look at "facts" regarding that similar situation, define the commonalities and differences with our own, then educated and informed estimates and prognostications could perhaps be made.
With regard to Enterprise South, it has been there 15 to 20 years, and it has not filled (or was not filling) with small businesses though I'm sure property was available at a "reasonable" rate. It would seem that even if VW never paid any property tax, then the property is generating about what it is now, near zero, with the difference being that the community would pick up some 10,000 jobs - jobs with a median pay scale (again based on media reports) far north of the local median range of $32,006 (Wikipedia, 2000 Census) to $32,174 (city-data.com, 2005 #) - take your pick.
Times Free Press , July 20 reported that median income in Franklin, Tn. (which has grown dramatically since the location of first Nissan some 15 miles to the northeast and then Saturn some 10 miles to its south) has median household income in the $91,000 range. I realize that Franklin, a suburb of Nashville has more going for it than just that, but hey, we could take 2/3 of that and still be way ahead of the game.
Again, a proper "ROI" for the incentive deal cannot be completed until many years in the future, though a net zero sum would still seem to find us better off with the addition of better jobs in our economy VW is coming so I believe we should focus on the positive aspects and work to see that as many local prospects have the opportunity to participate in VW's job recruitment efforts. I would hope that local government efforts to inform us citizens as to how best to get on the VW bus would be one of the focuses going forward.
C Graham
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