There is no doubt that this area would benefit from the expansion of Castle Branch in this area. Moving their corporate headquarters and adding 400 jobs would be a boom for an area whose unemployment is still higher than most of the state.
New Hanover County and the City of Wilmington have agreed to hand over $500k for this potential opportunity right out of their general funds (that’s fancy speak for taxpayer dollars sitting around waiting to be spend). But here’s the funny part:
(PortCityDaily.com) The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved its part Monday morning after learning the company was also scanning real estate in northern California.
Really? California that just passed a 33% increase in personal income taxes? The same California that led pro golfer Phil Mickelson (and others) to decry the egregious taking of money from successful hard working folks via higher taxes and more regulations? Are we really not in a place that we can compete with California except with incentive giveaways?
Heck, we’re in a state debating getting rid of all corporate taxes and dramatically reducing, if not eliminating, personal income taxes. And yet, we still lead with “let’s give ‘em some money!”
Maybe we should be recruiting professional athletes to move their residency here. We might also want to figure out how you’re actually going to count jobs created. Do we really think local government is going to sneak around Castle Branch counting the employees on any given day?
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