We had no problem crying foul when the State of Georgia “stole” NCR world HQ from Dayton. Those dirty rotten bastards used $100,000,000 in tax incentives to buy our jobs out from under us. Bad, evil people in Georgia.

So, what’s the difference when Montgomery County decides to give tax dollars to local company Motoman to move their business from West Carrollton and Troy to Austin Road interchange- not a damn thing.

If you were Troy or West Carrollton- you should be pissed off.  West Carrollton is losing one of its largest employers – about 6% of its annual revenue. What did they do to deserve that screwing?

And, the people of Montgomery County? What do they get? Other than the bill? Montgomery County doesn’t collect income taxes- just property taxes. Sure they steal a few jobs from Miami County- but, the damage they are doing to West Carrollton? Then the poor taxpayers in Montgomery County are forced  to help move these “entrepreneuring” corporate banditos- who are robbing from the poor to “keep their business here.”

It seems to me, we lose both ways if we play this way.

Here’s the story from the Dayton Business Journal, which hasn’t met a tax break it did not like:

Robot maker Motoman Inc. plans to stay in the Dayton region, but will leave its West Carrollton headquarters and two other sites in Troy.

Tom Schockman, vice president of finance and chief financial officer for Motoman, said Tuesday the company had whittled potential new locations down to a site in southern Montgomery County or northern Warren County. Both locations are near the pending Austin Road interchange off Interstate 75. Financing and incentives need to be finalized before a decision is announced.

“We’re hopeful that within a month or so we’ll have all that done,” Schockman said.

A new Motoman facility is expected to be about 300,000 square feet and cost $17 million to $18 million. It will consolidate as many as 275 workers into the new site, including about 75 in Troy and 200 in West Carrollton.

Schockman declined to name the builder.

The move will be a blow to West Carrollton since Motoman is one of the city’s largest employers.

Bill Covell, director of economic development for West Carrollton, said the city will lose about six percent of its revenue, or about $300,000 annually. The reality is that it may take as much as two years before the company vacates the West Carrollton site, Covell said, making it tough to fill right now.

He said the city has been working with one company to lure new jobs, and is a finalist, but wouldn’t disclose any more detail.

More than a year ago, Motoman said it was evaluating its three local facilities — the West Carrollton headquarters and two facilities in Troy — because the leases expire in 2010.

via Motoman to move headquarters – Dayton Business Journal:.

My question is what kind of performance bond is the company going to put up to guarantee the jobs, payroll and investment? What will the County do to make West Carrollton whole? And, where is the cost/benefit analysis for the county that demonstrates that this is a net gain for the taxpayers and the county- not just the developers, land owners and Motoman.

We should also see full disclosure on who the property owners are, the construction companies and investors before the tax breaks get approved to make sure there aren’t conflicts of interest.

It’s really time to place a ban on this kind of “investment” by taxpayers nationwide- but, our legislators are too used to getting huge campaign contributions from the beneficiaries of these kinds of deals.

What happened to value for the taxpayer?

Here’s today’s Dayton Grassroots Daily Show on the subject: