Boston at-large City Councilor At-Large Michelle Wu called for a hearing on corporate tax breaks given by the City of Boston and how to ensure taxpayers have full transparency in holding the City and corporations accountable for benefit.
Last year, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts received the lowest score from the Pew Center for its evaluation of tax breaks, while other reporting concluded that more than a third of companies using the state’s Economic Development Incentive Program were not living up to their job creation promises. The City of Boston also had room to improve in transparency receiving a score of zero for its Tax Increment Financing breaks in the latest Good Jobs First report on cities and subsidies.
The City offers tax breaks to corporations through its Tax Increment Financing, Special Tax Assessments, and Chapter 121A and B benefits for certain new developments. “Boston residents must have full transparency when corporations receive breaks from obligations to pay taxes that fund needed city services,” said Councilor Wu. “We must do better in providing access to this information on the number and quality of jobs promised, and carefully account for the results delivered.”
https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2018/07/18/under-budget-pact-business-tax-breaks-will-get.html
http://www.governing.com/topics/finance/gov-economic-development-incentives-good-jobs-first.html
