Hey there! It's Doug...Having worked in municipal government, I know a little more about the subject than the average bear. I'm also probably a little biased. Cargill is going to get the equivalent of city and state tax breaks to make a $37+ million investment in an existing facility. Here are my hot takes on this:
- $37M isn't a lot of money. Sorry about that...the amount of money they are investing is a drop in the bucket compared to the overall valuation of the property. So, it's not a big deal either way
- The tax break is on the new investment, not the existing infrastructure. In other words, we continue to collect the tax on what's already there. The tax break is on something that doesn't exist right now
- To the side, which says, "Stop giving tax breaks to big business," I say, "With unemployment so low, any opportunity to retain business and jobs is a good thing. And, it's within their purview to do this. If you don't like the tax breaks, run for office yourself.