Business & Job Creation
Businesses need a friendly and fair business environment so they can compete, innovate, and create jobs. We’re keeping politicians from playing favorites by offering special deals and tax breaks to the favored few.
Lawsuit fights Phoenix's $100 million deal with developers
The Goldwater Institute this week criticized Phoenix for what it called cavalier use of taxpayer resources to defend itself against a lawsuit that challenges the city's controversial $97.4 million subsidy to the CityNorth luxury development in northeast Phoenix.
Phoenix has paid more than $100,000 to the Fennemore Craig law firm to defend itself in a legal challenge filed by the Goldwater Institute.
Maybe it's a good idea. A music-themed amusement park in Eloy just might work. True, the park would be in the desert between Tucson and Phoenix with a limited available work force and limited infrastructure for large numbers of visitors.
Still, there have been surprises before. Who could have predicted Branson, Missouri?
Dr. Elliot Eisenberg finds if the price of a new home increases by $1,000 then more than 2,000 households in Phoenix, Scottsdale, Mesa, Prescott, Flagstaff, Yuma, and Tucson will become priced out of purchasing a new home. At a time when housing prices are at a all time high, Mesa's $221 "Cultural Impact Fee" is a luxury many cannot afford.
A lawsuit that challenges Phoenix's $100 million incentive to lure the CityNorth development has the potential to reverberate across Arizona.
The public policy institute thats challenging Phoenix's deal said that Mesas $20 million proposed incentive to the Waveyard resort at Riverview also violates the states Constitution.
Clint Bolick, attorney for the Goldwater Institute, said his group would be willing to back Mesans who oppose the Waveyard development deal.
What do you get when you put the owners of a small real-estate company, wine and cheese cafe, ice cream shop, Sign-a-Rama, Music Together and Hava Java in the same room? In Phoenix, Arizona, you've got a court case.
Phoenix--The Goldwater Institute today filed a lawsuit challenging the City of Phoenix's $97.4 million subsidy to the developer of a planned mall in north Phoenix known as CityNorth. The lawsuit, Turken v. Gordon, was filed in Maricopa County Superior Court and seeks an injunction against the subsidy and to restore the constitutional ban on subsidies.
Subsidies for private business activity in various forms have become an increasingly popular use of government power. The federal government has subsidized farming for decades. It has also provided for federally-guaranteed loans to large employers such as Chrysler and airline companies. Favored industries such as those engaged in research and development also receive income tax credits and deductions. State governments have acted similarly, providing in kind benefits such as specifically targeted infrastructure as well as direct subsidies and tax breaks.
For most people, Christmas comes but once a year. But for some politically powerful retailers and commercial developers, Christmas comes every day, thanks to massive giveaways by local Valley governments. Guess who gets to pick up the tab for such generosity? Not he man in the red suit, but the taxpayers.
Ireland was one of the worlds most dynamic economies during the 1990s. Other regions, including Arizona, want to emulate Irelands success. Unfortunately, two of Arizona's most vocal advocates of the Irish model, Gov. Janet Napolitano and Arizona State University President Michael Crow, have learned the wrong lessons from Irelands success. If Arizona follows their recommendations the state will not achieve the economic luck of the Irish.