Dear Maryland and Montgomery County elected officials:
We the undersigned Maryland residents, business owners, and other constituents oppose the “PRIME” Act as it currently stands.
We support smart growth and development in Maryland and Montgomery County, and we do not oppose an Amazon move into our region. But we do not support giving tax subsidies worth billions of dollars — and $150 million more in Sunny Day Fund grants — to a mega corporation whose founder is now sitting on a fortune worth over $120 billion.
“If Amazon selects Montgomery County,” a Sage Policy Group memo for the State of Maryland and Montgomery County recently noted, “it will be because of the county’s combination of astonishing institutional strength, phenomenal schools, diverse and highly educated population, and proximity to the nation’s capital.”
Exactly! Maryland and Montgomery County have incredible social and economic strengths. We do not need to give Amazon any subsidies to attract Amazon's HQ2. Nor will subsidies, in the end, determine where Amazon decides to move.
The proposed subsidies for Amazon in the PRIME Act will cost our state and county $6.5 billion in lost revenue by 2054, according to the legislation’s Fiscal and Policy Note. The Sage memo suggests that state and local tax benefits will exceed this loss after 10 to 15 years. But the Sage analysis calculates only benefits from increased economic activity and fails to account for the increased stress on our infrastructure and environment, on everything from roads to schools.
We want our leaders to devote their time and effort to creating better policy that invests our tax dollars in initiatives that benefit Maryland residents and businesses. We do not want our leaders to rubberstamp the PRIME Act and enter a race to the bottom with other state and local governments that only serves to increase the wealth and power of Amazon.com. We want to build and retain wealth in our local community.
Other communities competing for Amazon’s HQ2 are already moving in the direction we seek. They are banking on their strengths and not dangling any tax incentives.
In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio is working to win Amazon’s nod “based on the talent of our workers and the incredible diversity of industries in this town.” Strengths like these, he notes, “you can’t buy with tax breaks.”
In Ontario, Premier Kathleen Wynne is pledging that Toronto will triumph because “no competing U.S. city” can measure up to the support her province gives workers and businesses, “be it through universal public health care, a strong system of publicly funded education, expanding access to quality and affordable child care, or the magnitude of our commitment to public infrastructure.”
Our leaders should have the same confidence in our region.
7 Comments
Our collected taxes should be used for the real benefit of our citizens not a tax break for a multi billion dollar company. We shouldn't have to sell our soul for increased growth!
Let's redirect the PRIME subsidies to help subsidize promising new startup businesses in Montgomery county.
I hope we have more to offer than money.
Andrea
Its time politicians stop taking citizens for a ride at the behest of mega-corporations who pit localities against localities with a begging bowl in hand. Why do highly profitable companies need a tax payer handout to open shop in a location they find desirable for business. Maybe some politicians will get a few $$$ in political contributions for supporting the corporate bid for public dole. Citizens don't benefit. Just as Marriott did recently, Amazon will be back asking for more public dole by threatening to leave a jurisdiction that fell for its ploy in the first place. Until political leaders wake up and stop taking their constitutents for a ride, this unconscionable and immoral corporate behavior will not stop. No corporate welfare at taxpayer expense. Amazon is welcome if it sees value in what Mont Co has to offer. We don't need to shower it with taxpayer $$$$.
Taxpayers should not be subsidizing a large and successful business.
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Dear Maryland and Montgomery County elected officials:
We the undersigned Maryland residents, business owners, and other constituents oppose the “PRIME” Act as it currently stands.
We support smart growth and development in Maryland and Montgomery County, and we do not oppose an Amazon move into our region. But we do not support giving tax subsidies worth billions of dollars — and $150 million more in Sunny Day Fund grants — to a mega corporation whose founder is now sitting on a fortune worth over $120 billion.
“If Amazon selects Montgomery County,” a Sage Policy Group memo for the State of Maryland and Montgomery County recently noted, “it will be because of the county’s combination of astonishing institutional strength, phenomenal schools, diverse and highly educated population, and proximity to the nation’s capital.”
Exactly! Maryland and Montgomery County have incredible social and economic strengths. We do not need to give Amazon any subsidies to attract Amazon's HQ2. Nor will subsidies, in the end, determine where Amazon decides to move.
The proposed subsidies for Amazon in the PRIME Act will cost our state and county $6.5 billion in lost revenue by 2054, according to the legislation’s Fiscal and Policy Note. The Sage memo suggests that state and local tax benefits will exceed this loss after 10 to 15 years. But the Sage analysis calculates only benefits from increased economic activity and fails to account for the increased stress on our infrastructure and environment, on everything from roads to schools.
We want our leaders to devote their time and effort to creating better policy that invests our tax dollars in initiatives that benefit Maryland residents and businesses. We do not want our leaders to rubberstamp the PRIME Act and enter a race to the bottom with other state and local governments that only serves to increase the wealth and power of Amazon.com. We want to build and retain wealth in our local community.
Other communities competing for Amazon’s HQ2 are already moving in the direction we seek. They are banking on their strengths and not dangling any tax incentives.
In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio is working to win Amazon’s nod “based on the talent of our workers and the incredible diversity of industries in this town.” Strengths like these, he notes, “you can’t buy with tax breaks.”
In Ontario, Premier Kathleen Wynne is pledging that Toronto will triumph because “no competing U.S. city” can measure up to the support her province gives workers and businesses, “be it through universal public health care, a strong system of publicly funded education, expanding access to quality and affordable child care, or the magnitude of our commitment to public infrastructure.”
Our leaders should have the same confidence in our region.
7 Comments
Economic development research shows that the key to smart growth is investing in a supportive climate for business start-ups and expansion, including good infrastructure, schools, workforce training and regulatory environment, not "buffalo hunting". Amazon sees fit to locate its HQ2 in Montgomery County without a taxpayer bribe, great, but if not, let's not get snookered into a bidding war for a company that surely will locate where it thinks best for business reasons, regardless of the taxpayer subsidy.
Our collected taxes should be used for the real benefit of our citizens not a tax break for a multi billion dollar company. We shouldn't have to sell our soul for increased growth!
Let's redirect the PRIME subsidies to help subsidize promising new startup businesses in Montgomery county.
I hope we have more to offer than money.
Andrea
Its time politicians stop taking citizens for a ride at the behest of mega-corporations who pit localities against localities with a begging bowl in hand. Why do highly profitable companies need a tax payer handout to open shop in a location they find desirable for business. Maybe some politicians will get a few $$$ in political contributions for supporting the corporate bid for public dole. Citizens don't benefit. Just as Marriott did recently, Amazon will be back asking for more public dole by threatening to leave a jurisdiction that fell for its ploy in the first place. Until political leaders wake up and stop taking their constitutents for a ride, this unconscionable and immoral corporate behavior will not stop. No corporate welfare at taxpayer expense. Amazon is welcome if it sees value in what Mont Co has to offer. We don't need to shower it with taxpayer $$$$.
Taxpayers should not be subsidizing a large and successful business.
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Economic development research shows that the key to smart growth is investing in a supportive climate for business start-ups and expansion, including good infrastructure, schools, workforce training and regulatory environment, not "buffalo hunting". Amazon sees fit to locate its HQ2 in Montgomery County without a taxpayer bribe, great, but if not, let's not get snookered into a bidding war for a company that surely will locate where it thinks best for business reasons, regardless of the taxpayer subsidy.