If I didn’t have an important neighborhood meeting on Tuesday, May 26, I’d be at the Kettering Council meeting asking them to vote no on this corporate welfare scheme:
The city of Kettering will contribute a record $3.6 million incentive to Kettering Health Network for its new $49 million cancer facility.
The cancer center will add 80 new jobs to the existing 3,600 Kettering Health Network jobs now in the area, said Kettering Economic Development Manager Gregg Gorsuch.
“The reasoning behind the incentive is to ensure Kettering Medical Center continues to grow and thrive in the community. They are the largest employer and revenue producer, and we want to make sure they stay in the city of Kettering and this continues to be their flagship operation,” Gorsuch said.
Source: City giving to cancer center [1]
I’d also be calling for Gorsuch to go.
Take his salary, hire a better ice rink manager. Spend some money on advertising the ice rink properly. Invest in something that makes Kettering a better place to be- don’t buy future tax revenue.
On paper this sounds great- spend a little to make a lot- except it’s inherently unfair. The same opportunity isn’t given to every business in Kettering- and the ones who don’t pay their CEO over a million a year are probably in greater need than KHN.
The fear factor of KHN taking this building elsewhere is exactly what will happen eventually if the city keeps doing these kinds of deals. Once you open the floodgates- soon you’ll be like Dayton and have forgotten how to plow the streets, or pay your cops and teachers.
This is the redistribution of wealth- pure and simple. Those tax dollars that you are fronting to KHN were earned by people working minimum wage jobs and they deserve to get the best possible government back with them- not to help rich corporations get a break.
Kettering shouldn’t go down this rabbit hole. Just say no to corporate extortion and focus on what makes Kettering a great community.
This isn’t economic development- it’s criminal.
This is no different that the Greene Memorial Hospital levy that was passed last year. Never understood how a “for profit” hospital can use taxpayer monies to keep a bad hospital in business. The Greene county commissioners endorsed it because of campaign contributions and kickbacks from KMH. Bad business all the way around however it seems like KMH knows how to manipulate the elected officials to get what they want. Tried to ask the Greene county commissioners and accounting of funds spent which met with great resistance and stall tactics until after the election.
Great. More $$ thrown away at supposed cancer treatment. Even at the world’s best centers and using the latest clinical trial results, the best most treatment trials can offer is a one or two months. I have been following clinical journals in oncology for over two decades and my opinion changed when after seriously examining the trial results, the conclusions of resulted in buying the poor survivors of the experimentation got 1 month here, 2 months there. This is not to be disrespectful to any cancer patient. But when corporations realized they could make bazillions on turning cancer into a chronic disease, any potential for cure went out the window. Now there is a cancer treatment center everywhere. Once your precious money and savings are gone, so is your treatment. Kettering will be no different. Maybe athey should add a 3rd positron Rx centers in Dayton, too.
It’s stuff like this that puts Kettering between a rock and a hard place. They are faced with a declining population, an aging housing stock, nowhere to build out, and already have a very high level of taxes to support the existing services. In my four years in Dayton, I’ve met several people who live in Kettering. Without fail, they all grumble about the level of taxes they pay – both income and property.
Some of them have voted with their feet – one family moved to Jamestown, two went to Beavercreek, one couple went to Centerville, and one moved down to Liberty Township in Butler County.
In the same way, a business would not hesitate to “vote with their feet” and move more of their staff to Austin Landing, if Kettering had not granted the tax deal. I’m sure Randy Gunlock would be more than happy to build a new building for them.
We can debate endlessly about the negative effect government has when it distorts the free market by offering incentives… but this is a game that Kettering isn’t going to win in the long run… it’s kicking the can down the road a few more years. In the meantime, the housing stock gets older, the property values decline, and more people move out.
They need something to replace NCR