Kentucky

The University of Kentucky's Center for Business and Economic Research recently issued a study on the effectiveness of KY's tax incentive programs. Today's Cincinnati Post offers an analysis of the study:

[T]he study suggests [that] it cost about $60,000 in tax breaks to create a single job, while training programs created one job for every $2,948 spent.

Kentucky economic development officials downplayed this portion of the report, saying it is a minor part of the larger story.

Still, the UK study calls into question the value of the tax breaks offered to businesses in exchange for locating or staying in the commonwealth. . . .

Our own perspective here at The Post is that state and local governments should do all they can to temper the tax giveaway wars. It's better, we believe, to focus on the essentials - efficient government services, a well-educated workforce, strong transportation and utility networks, for example - than to try to entice businesses with artificially low, business-specific tax breaks. Instead of picking winners and losers and giving favored treatment to new companies or old ones that threaten to move, work on developing a tax code that is fair, predictable and easy to administer.

Sound familiar?