In the Media: Debating the Future of (Some) Incentives

30 March 2015 3:17PM

North Carolina lawmakers are debating the role incentives play in the state’s economic growth. Though senators last week approved a short-term allocation for incentives, long-term commitments have not yet been made.

Furniture retailer Rooms To Go is set to open a distribution center in rural Harnett County later this year, and the company has received incentives from the state based on its projected creation of 240 jobs.

But incentives come at a cost.

“Increasing the number of jobs is a lever we can pull … We don’t know if it’s actually worth that expenditure,” said Professor Juan Carlos Suárez Serrato in an interview with WUNC. “We should bear in mind that we are having to cut money from somewhere else … We’re going to have more jobs at the expense of having less services or at the expense of having higher tax rates.

Read the full article on WUNC.