While it is true, that communities often desire to bring in major corporations so as to provide employment for those that are its residents, what we do find at the present time, is that the tax abatements so structured, seem to be far too often poorly negotiated on behalf of the community, and therefore the savings that these corporations get from not having to pay, for example, their appropriate amount in regards to property taxes, or from the reduction of their sales tax, or their contribution to infrastructure improvements specifically accomplished on behalf of these corporations, are unfair to the taxpayers that have to thereby carry more of the tax burden upon their shoulders, and in return, see minimal or no true benefit to the community.
This so signifies that no tax abatement should be agreed upon, unless that community is getting something tangible in return, which would typically consist of unionized jobs, or a collective bargaining agreement which would essentially accomplish the same goal. So too, depending upon the corporate footprint that is being considered, there could also be conditions that would mandate a certain percentage of local residents having to be employed, as well as affordable housing being constructed or other infrastructure of merit created in the community as part of the deal. The bottom line is that communities that provide tax abatements without any guarantee that they will receive something of significance in return, have got it wrong, and considering that corporations typically have enough in their favor to begin with, demonstrates therefore community inability to hold the line to thereby get something of significance that would truly benefit that community.
As it stands, corporations are quite adept at creating a dynamic in which one community is competing against another community, in order to win that approval to locate that corporation within that particular community, which is why, the government should step in to help to level the playing field so that communities do not end up throwing in the kitchen sink without in return, getting a solid benefit from the corporation that is moving in.
Indeed, the fact of the matter is that whenever any major corporation is considering moving to a given community, presupposes that this is a location that the corporation favors and therefore desires to be at, which would signify that the community should be able to wrangle a fair deal, and to the degree that the government can impose itself so that the conditions of those laboring for that corporation, provides them with a fair wage, the better it will be for that community.
After all, to believe, somehow, that some of the biggest corporations that have ever existed, actually need a tax abatement is to fundamentally misunderstand how the business world actually operates, for in a lot of ways, big business has an incredible amount of power and influence, and thereby is use to having its way; whereas, a conscientious community with good representation and a government that is of the people, needs to therefore stand strong for the betterment of that community and its people.