New accounting standard to require governments to disclose cost of tax breaks
The Governmental Accounting Standards Board approved a new rule on Monday that requires governments to include in financial statements the value of tax abatements given to companies to spur economic development starting next year. "The results of external research ... suggest that tax abatements are an issue of concern among citizen groups, county board members, and municipal bond analysts, and that each group desires to receive information about the level of abatement activity and the results of the abatement programs," according to GASB. "However, the researchers found relatively few states (six) with statutes requiring any level of external reporting after tax abatements are granted. These findings indicate that there is an important information need that [...]