economic development

6 Mar, 2019

Commercial Appeal: Bill would require Tennessee governments to disclose payments to companies

By |2019-03-06T09:12:57-06:00March 6, 2019|Categories: exemptions, Legislature|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

The Commercial Appeal recently did a story about a bill in the Legislature, supported by TCOG, that would solve the issue of business entities claiming that government documents about payments made to them are confidential because the payment they received constitutes a trade secret. It flies in the face of the Tennessee Public Records Act that states "all documents ... made or received pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official business by any governmental entity" are public records. But the business are getting away with it. See below for an example with Google and the Montgomery County Industrial Development Board, and the University of [...]

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18 Feb, 2019

Washington Post story details Google techniques to keep economic development deals secret

By |2019-02-18T15:49:46-06:00February 18, 2019|Categories: economic development|Tags: , , , |1 Comment

A Washington Post story last week has detailed how Google, often acting through a newly formed company with a different name, secured non-disclosure agreements with government entities around the country as it negotiated and landed economic development deals valued in the millions of dollars. The city of Clarksville and the Montgomery County Industrial Development Board are among the government entities that signed non-disclosure agreements with Google, which eventually agreed to locate a data center in the county with a target investment of $600 million and 34 direct hires. From the Washington Post story, Google reaped millions in tax breaks as it secretly expanded its real estate footprint across the U.S.: Google — which [...]

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10 Dec, 2018

Tennessee lags other states in tax credit transparency

By |2020-11-19T12:54:12-06:00December 10, 2018|Categories: economic development, Legislature|Tags: , , , |1 Comment

(Update 2-8-2020: The most recent annual report on claimed tax credits from the year ending in mid-June shows the annual carryover liability has grown to $1.3 billion. You'll find this information in the footnotes.) When it comes to transparency of state business tax credits given to companies as part of economic development programs, Tennessee lags other states in how much it reveals to the public. The amount carried over in economic development tax credits to be used by businesses against future taxes is nearly $1 billion in Tennessee. But who is receiving the credits is confidential, the state says, unlike in other states. The Department of Revenue last [...]

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16 Nov, 2018

Memphis considers using code names for companies getting economic development incentives

By |2018-11-16T11:47:08-06:00November 16, 2018|Categories: Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: , , , , , , |0 Comments

The Economic and Development Growth Engine Board for Memphis (EDGE) is seeking at Attorney General's opinion on whether it can use code names to keep secret from the public the identity of companies before it votes to award the companies government cash grants and other economic development incentives. Al Bright chairman of the Memphis Economic Development and Growth Engine, said if using code names for companies when voting on cash grants and incentives instead of publicly disclosing identities would encourage more businesses to come to Memphis, "by all means, we need to do it." The attorney for the board told the Commercial Appeal (Companies seeking tax breaks from [...]

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14 Nov, 2018

What records are open and closed on the Amazon deal?

By |2020-11-19T12:37:18-06:00November 14, 2018|Categories: exemptions|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

Now that Amazon has announced that it will locate a logistics hub with 5,000 big-paying jobs in Nashville, what documents related to the $102 million incentive deal are subject to the Tennessee Public Records Act? The incentives announced yesterday break down this way, as reported by news outlets: A $65 million grant from the state based on Amazon creating 5,000 jobs and investing $600 million within a seven-year period. The grant can be used for land acquisition, site preparation, building construction, infrastructure improvements and development, including, but not limited to, sewer, water and utility infrastructure, or "any other eligible activities," according to a Nov. 2 summary of state incentives obtained by [...]

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