Michigan

From mlive.com:

A Fruitport Township tool and die company received approval from the board of trustees Monday night for a 10-year tax abatement.

The request from Kurt Witham, owner of Automated Industrial Motion, or AIM, is part of a state economic effort which designates "tool and die recovery zones" as a way to help "qualifying tooling companies better compete in a global marketplace," Witham said. . . .

Witham's request Monday spurred a long discussion among board members who were divided over the issue. Supervisor Ron Cooper said it may not be fair to grant the company the tax break when so many other businesses in the area would like to have the same treatment.

Trustee Chris Beck reminded Cooper that other businesses have had opportunities to come before the board and ask for a tax abatement. Beck applauded the company for staying in the township and generating highly skilled jobs there.

There should be no question on the lack of fairness of having to win the approval of a government-created monopoly in order to have access to tax breaks. More importantly, offering discretionary tax breaks is a policy that wastes time and rewards those who play politics instead of those who make a decent product.

Protectionism also lurks in the background. . .