Just in case Alabama starts whining about "being broke"

[SoCalDem]

Alabama is NOT alone is this sort of chicanery.. States who actively "poach" manufacturing away from OTHER states or who invite foreign companies to their state so they can win the next election, cannot resist the temptation to use that pension money... They know that by the time the cards have all been folded, they will be long out of office and the mess will be left to future leaders..

$253 million divided by 1700 jobs = $148,823.53 per job, paid from pension funds & taxpayers of Alabama for that one deal alone..

................................

SoCalDem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Fri Dec-12-08 06:59 PM
Original message
Alabama's $158 Million for Honda..(from 1999 article)

http://www.siteselection.com/ssinsider/incentive/ti9906...

Alabama's $158 Million for Honda: Initial Embrace
Marks Dramatic Shift from 1993's Mercedes Tiff

What a huge difference seven years make: That's the dominant theme thus far in the aftermath of the $158 million incentive package that Alabama put together to land Honda's $400 million, 1,500-employee plant. Honda (www.honda.com ), with a substantial assist from Alabama's incentives, will build a massive, 1.7-million-sq.-ft. auto production facility on a 1,350-acre tract in Lincoln, a city some 35 miles east of Birmingham. The upbeat mood that's greeted the announcement stands in stark contrast to the brouhaha of 1993, when the state provided $253 million in incentives and tax breaks to land the DaimlerChrysler investment in Vance, Ala., some 30 miles west of Birmingham. Though it ultimately yielded the first U.S. Mercedes-Benz plant, which now employs 1,700, that deal landed in hot water only months after it was forged.


'Look at Mercedes'

While scattered rumblings over the Honda deal have surfaced, the initial reaction among the huge majority of Alabamans seems overwhelmingly positive. Most seem to agree that the new Honda plant will provide an infusion of robust economic health - the same kind that ultimately came from DaimlerChrysler's Alabama plant in Vance. "Look at what Mercedes has done in Alabama, with Alabama workers. This plant will be even larger than Mercedes, and will end up costing the state less," County Commissioner Paul Manning said at a recent meeting of the St. Clair County Commission that was held shortly after Honda's Alabama announcement. St. Clair County adjoins Talladega County, where the Honda facility will rise in Lincoln, a small town with a population of some 3,600.


snip...

Good for All of Alabama?

To land Honda, Alabama committed to a total of $102.7 million in incentives to buy the land and prepare the site for construction, plus training the plant's employees. In addition, Honda will receive $55.6 million in tax breaks, according to Gov. Don Siegelman's office.

snip...

Samuel Addy, interim director of the University of Alabama's Center for Business and Economic Research, has calculated 20 years will pass before Alabama possibly breaks even if some large Honda suppliers follow the company to the region (which, given the just-in-time nature of auto manufacturing, seems likely). But despite the lengthy payoff, Addy calls the state's second auto plant "a great boon" for Alabama, which may establish it as an rising center for heavy industry locations.

In addition, the Alabama House of Representatives unanimously approved the incentive package for Honda shortly after it was announced by Gov. Siegelman.


1999's Big Differences

Things were quite different in 1993, when the state provided $253 million in incentives and tax breaks to land the DaimlerChrysler investment in Vance. Soon after, state school officials refused to hand over education funds to bankroll the Mercedes incentives. As a result, Alabama was tardy with a $43 million incentive payout due Mercedes in the agreement forged by then-Gov. Jim Folsom. That forced the state to raid Alabama's PENSION FUND to make good on the incentives, with Alabama taking out a loan, with a 9 percent interest rate, to recoup the pension funds.

snip,...

[aquart]

1. They robbed children and the elderly to pay off large corporations?

Well, isn't that special.

[SoCalDem]

2. and so corrupt pols could holler "I created JOBS, ahh teyullyah".

:grr:

[misanthrope]

3. The Heart of Dixie has long been proud to be "business friendly"...

...They've taught the population to hate intellectuals, local taxes and unions while loving football, federal funding and lack of workplace regulations.

They're method of economic development is to turn northward and chant, "Cheap taxes, cheap land, cheap labor."