Public school districts in South Carolina lost $423 million in property tax revenues during the 2019 fiscal year, due to tax abatements county governments granted to corporations. That’s an increase of $99 million – or 31 percent – compared to just two years earlier, according to a new Good Jobs First report released today: “The Revenue Impact of Corporate Tax Incentives on South Carolina Public Schools.”

Tax abatement disclosures often need to be enforced at the state level. We have isolated a few states that have abnormally low disclosure rates among their local governments. Is there underreporting going on? Is underreporting a statewide problem?

For local governments, acknowledging GASB Statement No. 77 on Tax Abatement Disclosures is not a bad start, but not disclosing the amount of taxes abated is bad for transparency. This blog exposes the common "excuses".

When a local government does not report on tax abatements, is it not complying with the GASB 77 disclosure rule, or is there nothing to disclose? This blog answers the question.

Good Jobs First – a non-profit, non-partisan research center focusing on economic development accountability – today published the second half of a 13-state report “Putting State Pension Costs in Context.” The report found that Colorado, Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri, South Carolina, Texas, and Vermont together spend more than $17 billion per year in development subsidies and tax breaks for corporations, about five times the states’ yearly pension obligations.