RALEIGH — Opponents of Amendment One, the constitutional question on the November ballot that would allow localities to issue more public debt without a public vote, said yesterday that supporters of the idea are deceiving voters about the true nature of so-called “tax increment financing.” Chris Neely of the state chapter of the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, former State Supreme Court Justice Robert Orr, and Martin Eakes of Self-Help Credit Union and Self-Help Ventures Fund all said at a Raleigh press conference that the primary proponents of Amendment One are selling a misleading slogan to the public.
CHARLOTTE—Whether tax increment financing really works as advertised is an empirical question. In recent years, several studies have examined the issue, reaching the general conclusion that TIFs as typically used produce few of the benefits claimed. Indeed, in some cases they may actually be counterproductive. One study found that Iowa’s TIF law “now has become a de facto entitlement for new industry and housing development in the state with little or no evidence of overall public benefit or meaningful discussion of the mean cost of the practice.” But supporters of Amendment One in North Carolina have been citing as part of this same study as supporting their position.
It's a delusion that bonds used to build stadiums, civic centers, and similar ventures are "self-financed."
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