What About Those Harmful Tax Caps?

The Metropolitan Development Commission gave approval today for more than $30 million in property tax breaks for Eli Lilly on $400 million in construction projects and improvements its supposedly undertaking. Recall that Lilly was previously awarded tax incentives worth $1.6 billion with the promise of creating 9,500 jobs. Although it initially added several thousand of those promised new jobs, the company has since shed most of the new jobs it created over the past several years. By law, the incentives are supposed to be repaid when a company fails to keep its promises but local governments rarely hold companies to those commitments. The politicians will tell you that they don't have enough money to pay for basic services because the legislature imposed a cap on the annual amount local government can tax your home. Don't believe them for a second. They always lie when they're looking for an excuse to dig deeper into your pockets.