Why does St. Paul have to bribe an employer to come in and setup shop, bringing its jobs with it? The municipalities I mentioned above don't have to. Well, you and I both know why. The tax structure is so high and the organized labor so powerful, it would take a fool or a bribed CEO to agree to do it.
I'm not sure how "organized labor" would be a factor in whether or not Gander Mountain set up its headquarters in St. Paul, but there are a number of other factors.
Tax structure may be one of them (although, I'm not certain how true it is). But, the question, is why the difference in tax structure. Part of it is simply the age of the city. New cities or suburbs are able to take advantage of cheap land and construction subsidies, which spread the cost of new development over the entire metro area - while, inner cities have to deal with very high land costs, environmental issues (clean-up of previous pollution), aging infrastructure, and high social services costs (which suburbs are able to avoid, by keeping housing costs high).
Comparing tax costs between St. Paul and Minnetonka feels like its comparing apples to oranges. I think that most urban centers find themselves offering financial incentives for companies to locate there, for reasons that are not always their own fault (sometimes they are).
We know very well, that if St. Paul doesn't offer some financial incentive for a business to relocate, that Minneapolis or Bloomington will. I don't like this system, but it is a reality that we have to deal with. Many suburbs are offering financial incentives as well (at least I believe that they are).
Does anyone have any better ideas for attracting businesses to downtown, that take into account the reality of our political and economic situation? Can we really cut taxes even further? What other options are there.......?
Best wishes,
Tim Erickson Hamline Midway [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Tim Erickson http://www.politalk.com St. Paul, MN - USA 651-643-0722
[EMAIL PROTECTED] iChat/AIM: stpaultim
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