I got the following reply to my Public Information Request asking for a list of the incentives in Greensboro this morning:
"Dear Billy:
Thank you for your PIRT # 3149 request regarding incentives.
The Economic Development and Business Support Office confirms job creation numbers before payments of incentives are made. There is no definitive way for the staff to determine whether the jobs would absolutely have been created without the incentive but the City follows state procedures for offering incentives. Here is a summary of these requirements per the School of Government Procedural Requirements for Approval of Incentives: An initial “but for” or necessity determination is made that the incentive is required for a project to go forward. A written guideline or policy is applied to determine the maximum amount of incentive that can be given to the receiving company. Expenditures take the form of reimbursements, not unrestricted cash payments. Final approval is made at a public meeting, properly noticed. A written agreement governs implementation.
The Economic Development and Business Support Office does not track if jobs added are from existing residents or new workers outside the area.
Attached is the list of incentives and loans kept by EDBS from 2003-present (the pdf was created in December 2013). Also, attached is a pdf of the results of a historical search conducted by the City Clerk for items on City Council agendas that included the keyword incentive.
Unfortunately, EDBS does not keep the requested information on a neighborhood by neighborhood basis.
Please let me know if you need any additional documents.
Sincerely,
Sarah Healy"
Attachments:
List Of Incentives Since 1996
Economic Development Annual Report
I think I'm just going to pause here without commentary to give myself and my readers time to download, print and read over the documents sent to me before I continue. If you have any questions you'd like added to the list of questions I'll be asking the City of Greensboro concerning these incentives please leave them in the comments below or e-mail them to me at RecycleBill@gmail.com and I'll do my best to get the City to answer them for you.
Please continue reading Incentives In Greensboro: 28: Answering Questions With Questions
