Incentives are pushed for growth in business in Utah

Economic development leaders in state government want to pair up a couple of financial incentives to help lure companies to Utah or aid in local companies’ growth.

Combining the cash incentive under the Industrial Assistance Fund with a tax rebate program would help Utah to be more competitive with other states, they told the Workforce Services and Community and Economic Development Interim Committee on Wednesday.

"We are not nearly as aggressive as the states that are close around us, and when a company is looking to come to a state, they’re getting much larger incentive packages (elsewhere)," said Michael Nelson, director of corporate recruitment for the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. "Now, we have a great state, and a lot of times, it is our work force and other benefits that attract these companies, and they are coming to the state, but it’s something we have to look at and something we have to encourage."

Legislation that created the tax rebate program, HB11, prohibits companies from combining it with other state incentives such as the Industrial Assistance Fund. But upfront IAF money could be used to help a company pay for construction of a Utah site, while a tax rebate could help a company after that.

"There’s one thing we want to be very clear about, is there is not a double dipping," Nelson said. "There’s a certain model that we run through, and we’re not going to provide any more money to any individual company than we do right now, in the blending format."

The governor’s office also is seeking:

By Brice Wallace
Deseret Morning News

Full Story: http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635160025,00.html

***

Experts: Incentives costing Ky.
Corporate tax breaks waste money, say critics

The Associated Press

LEXINGTON – Kentucky is spending millions to lure business to the state, but some economic experts say the incentives don’t pay off.

States often woo new business by offering the tax incentives, but those costs have risen sharply in recent years.

For Kentucky, the cost swelled to $808 million in 2004, according to a report by the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development, a small business lender based in Berea.

Experts say companies are often bluffing when they express interest in tax incentives.

Full Story: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051108/BIZ/511080324/1001