By Maxine Shapiro, KERA 90.1 business commentator
Dallas, TX – My gosh, forgive my Pollyanna view, but why can't some of the cities of North Texas work together? It's a given that most communities would like to grow and a surefire way is through economic development. But at the cost of your neighbors? I don't think so. I'm Maxine Shapiro with KERA Marketplace Middays.
It all started when the state legislature back in 1989 gave cities the option to establish a sales tax solely for the use of economic development. The cities that passed this tax became 4-A or 4-B status. But given the current economic downturn, cities now are being pitted against cities in an attempt to lure businesses to move - not from another state, but from a neighboring town.
Let's add another element to this scenario. There is a cap on the amount of sales tax a city may charge. So maybe you're one of the cities that decided it would be in your best interest and the interest of North Texas to take some of the sales tax and have a transportation infrastructure, like DART or a bus system. Well, now you're maxed out and have no money to compete for economic development. And the competition is now fierce.
About a month ago, I related a story from the Dallas Business Journal about the city of Frisco, a 4-A city, offering all-inclusive lavish trips to tenant reps whose clients lease 50,000 square feet or bring 150 jobs to the city. Well, this week an even more disturbing story was in the Business Journal. Greenville and Rockwall, both 4-A cities, are duking it out by giving huge cash incentives to companies for moving from each other's city. This little move cost taxpayers $430,000 worth of cash incentives. It was also reported that Denison is offering a mere $50,000 cash to "anyone who provides a name of a company that ultimately relocates to" Denison. What happened to build better schools, plant a tree, connect with your neighbors and they will come? And how do cities like Plano, Richardson and Addison who chose DART compete?
This is not marketing. It's feeding into the vulnerable economic hard times of North Texas and at a far great price then just the money. For KERA Marketplace Middays, I'm Maxine Shapiro.
Marketplace Midday Reports air on KERA 90.1 Monday - Friday at 1:04 p.m. To contact Maxine Shapiro, please send emails to mshapiro@kera.org.