Of the 20 Amazon HQ2 Finalist Cities, 17 Have Now Released at Least Partial Information on Their Bids
With the HQ2 contest now concluded, additional cities are releasing details on their Amazon HQ2 bids. Bid amounts in this blog include both city and state incentives. With the exception of HQ2 “winners” New York City, Arlington Va. and Nashville, all cities’ bids are based on Amazon’s original proposal that
GASB Rules: Most TIF Spending Will Remain Undisclosed
In a recent update of its Implementation Guide, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) defied the recommendations of many commenters and ruled that most tax increment financing (TIF) spending will remain undisclosed.
The ruling is a major blow to GASB’s Statement 77 on Tax Abatement Disclosures, the new rule that
Georgia Whiffs, Bernalillo County Homers on Tax-Break Disclosures!
As states and localities finally start to disclose how much revenue they lose to corporate welfare (thanks to GASB Statement 77*), we continue to see laggards and leaders.
Today we spotlight Georgia (which has failed to comply, claiming taxpayer confidentiality for numbers that have long been public) and Bernalillo
GASB 77 Data: Starting to Make Headlines -- Or Not
As we approach the first tsunami of GASB Statement 77 Tax Abatement Disclosure* data, Good Jobs First is already seeing some big differences in data quality from various states. Of special interest is Statement 77's requirement that governments report the tax revenue they lose passively, as the result of
Investigating Those 238 Bids for Amazon's HQ2
There's a terrific new resource to facilitate investigative journalism and citizen activism on those 238 Amazon HQ2 project bids!
We encourage everyone interested to visit and utilize MuckRock's website: https://www.muckrock.com/project/america-bids-on-amazon-175/
That page includes a list of more than 100 Freedom of Information Act requests (FOIAs) MuckRock has filed with local