The corporate handouts don’t stop. While we can’t afford national health care if you listen to the tea party people, and the city, county and state are cutting programs left and right, we still have tax money to donate to financially strong companies like Cintas for “economic development.”
This is nothing but the rich getting rich by stealing from the poor.
Cintas pays Scott D. Farmer [1] – CEO a Total Compensation: $ 1.01 M according to the daily finance site [2] yet Ohio and Dayton feel the need to give them some of your money:
Ohio is giving Cintas Corp. $30,000 toward an expansion and consolidation project in Dayton.
The state controlling board Monday approved a rapid outreach grant for the company to use toward building and infrastructure improvements for its project on Brandt Street.
In December, city officials announced that Cincinnati-based Cintas (Nasdaq: CTAS) would add 100 jobs in Dayton within three years by opening a financial services office. Plans call for a $500,000 investment at Cintas’ Brandt Street location for the new center including renovations, a parking lot expansion and new equipment.
The financial services office — the Cintas Financial Shared Services — will service Cintas operations in Ohio and surrounding states. Dayton City Commissioners approved a $125,000 development fund grant to support the project. City officials say Dayton competed with several cities in several other states for the office.
via Cintas lands incentives to create 100 jobs in Dayton – Dayton Business Journal: [3].
Same stupidity as reported by the DDN: 150 Jobs to be added to Dayton Facility [4]
Note- the headlines don’t even agree on “number of jobs”
I’m not sure where you or I signed up to be involved in this “competition” for placing their offices in our community? If we are going to invest in this company, we should do it like everyone else- buy stock.
If this isn’t outrageous to you, it should be. It’s time for a Constitutional Amendment to end this corporate welfare.
And for the record- $125K pays at least two additional police officers for Dayton for one year. They actually try to return things stolen from taxpayers [5]– unlike the corporate robber barons.
David,
…….Dont stop taxing people, but instead use that public money on my preference instead of yours. Don’t give it back to the people that are paying it………..give them what I want them to have instead.
I see no difference between the people behind the corporate handouts and you, as pertains to this article.
“Well Mr. Vigh, we are going to seize your money. What would you like us to spend it on?” ……….Uh, nothing, please give it back……………..”lol, oh no. We cannot do that, but we could spend it over here. How does that sound?”……………Uh, the JFS sounds like a bad idea too. Could I just have the money back?………..”Lol, NO. What is with you and your libertarian nonsense, we gave you a chance to choose, now we are going to let someone else decide where to spend your money.”
Yay Robert!
@Robert- there are real services being delivered (even if being delivered poorly) for those tax dollars. I guess you’ve never heard the Ambrose Bierce quote “I don’t mind paying taxes, it buys me civilization” (or something to that effect).
The system for handing out money to corporations doesn’t exist. It’s not done fairly. It’s capricious and reeks of good-ole-boy patronage. It’s time to stop this part of the equation. What you talk about, is in my humble perspective, naive and dangerous.
I absolutely agree with you on not handing out money to companies, this I hope you understand we agree on. I get lost when you then divert to your preference for those same funds. I understand that you think I am naive and dangerous, I think the same of you. If we did not feel this way, we probably would not disagree.
I am just trying to illuminate to you the system you partake in. You think that police, dog parks and parks are the answer. Obviously, other people think that business subsidy is the answer. Other people want other services etc. So you lobby through blogging your ideal and wish to acheive the majority side so we can have an era of more parks and police. Over time it will bounce back and forth from your preferences to other people’s preferences. However, the person footing the bill will never change. The individual will continuously be subjected to the whims of a majority that wish to spend the individuals money.
So, while you fight the good fight for those parks instead of business, please understand you are simply seeking a majority position for your preference. It is not changing the system, helping the individual or helping society. What you are asking for is your own type of power. What I am asking for is that no one have the power.
It’s a city investment.
I have no clue what the payroll would be for 100 new Cintas employees, but assuming it’s something modest like 20k/year, let’s see what income that would bring to Dayton.
20,000 x 100 = 2,000,000
2,000,000 x .0225 (municipal tax rate)= 45,000
That’s $4,500,000 of city income taxes paid over a decade to the city government. How is that inappropriate?
I apologize for the error in calculation. I added a zero, ha. It’s actually $450,000, which still works. That is indeed a number greater than $155,000, however.
Jordan,
What if you owned a business that was directly competing with Cintas? What if your business had been in Dayton for 20 years paying taxes and the city went ahead and took money from you, to give to Cintas, so they would have an easier time to compete with you?
Oh well. Take from one give to another.
@Jordan- see Robert’s answer. Also- that’s $155K that doesn’t pay for police, fire, roads- the things we PAID for- but aren’t getting. Then, more people move out- as their homes get burglarized. You do understand that competent basic city services MUST come first- then business and residents come.
There is no guarantee that the jobs will stay. Moraine was held up by GM on the Moraine Truck plant- build us a “Clear coat paint line” or we leave. Well- they left anyway- and probably took the tools with them- the tools we PAID for.
You are severely mistaken about payback. Government makes a lousy investment banker. In fact, any left over money means they taxed their people too much.
This should be illegal- across the country.
@David & Robert
I think the best logic arguing FOR justification of our local government subsidizing any portion of the private work force comes down to the fact that Dayton-proper-based companies have been flying out of the city limits faster than a suburbanite after making a wrong turn onto Germantown Street. Whilst it’s true that a town absent of well-serviced infrastructure, efficient public works, and strong emergency services is hard pressed to attract ANYTHING, I can’t recall any business leaving town because there weren’t enough police officers in their precinct (though you could definitely argue businesses leaving town because in times past there never were enough officers who weren’t greedy or racist).
I am all about keeping government’s grubby hands out of the private market, but investors flock to incentives. I would certainly feel more comfortable about that 155k if I’d seen a couple police officers hired beforehand, but I don’t think it’s a farce to say that even a measly 100 private-sector jobs coming to Dayton, for any reason, is NOT something to throw in the ‘all-bad’ category for our city.
Government is the worst investment banker possible. Your money would be safer with a drunken Tim Geithner. But the math is there – the city will have more funds long term that we can all hope goes to something less, uh, morally questionable.