My very wise son made an observation worth considering about the Freeport Exemption measure that’s before the voters. His opinion is well-grounded in his position with a multi-unit, multi-brand company as that company’s CPA with a multi-state tax specialty.
Since the County’s intention is to build jobs, he believes that NO manufacturing inventory should be taxed in Camden County. By not collecting inventory tax from any manufacturer, he contends that many more companies might consider Camden County as a business base. He's correct. Limiting the benefit to mail-order/online fulfillment businesses only, as the present measure does, simply limits the possibilities of attracting other types of large businesses, and their jobs, in the manufacturing and distribution fields. The current election measure will require yet another election to make that happen.
The government’s insatiable appetite for more tax revenue has created an environment where special deals pick winners and losers. And this goes to the point that Camden1st has argued all along. Local businesses should not be further disadvantaged by a Camden County-located online seller by not giving established, local sellers equal ground.
However, if it takes giving special treatment to attract a business, there is no bottom to such deals, is there? There are plenty of locations for warehouses along I-95 in Georgia so the negotiators feel like they have to match or beat those competitors. The more desperate the negotiator, the more desperate the deal. That’s simply unfair to the tens of thousands of other County taxpayers.
The Rivian EV truck factory deal 40 miles east of Atlanta included more than $1.5 BILLION in Georgia and local incentives and is one of the largest incentive packages ever offered to an automaker in the United States. Which raises a new question. If businesses get all the tax breaks, who is paying the taxes that run the government (and the school system)? Well, that would be the individual property owners who can’t cut a deal with the County. We just pay what we’re told. In other words, the County feeds the beast on the backs of the majority of taxpayers who only get a voice at the ballot box occasionally.
We're almost full circle in this argument. If you are tuned in to state-wide news you are aware that the $5 BILLION Rivian EV truck manufacturing plant was postponed this week because of that company’s financial problems. But the state and the JDA assembled to make that deal have already spent millions on it. They’ve assembled the 2,000-acre tract, improved roads, cleared a major portion of the site, and prepared a construction pad. On Friday, the sign directing contractors to the Rivian site had been removed at its intersection with US Highway 278. Not a good omen.
While Rivian’s truck factory has been halted, the Hyundai Motor Group’s $7.6 billion electric vehicle and battery complex near Savannah is nearing completion. Yes, there are winners and there are losers. In some quarters that's called "speculation" while some call it "gambling."
Meanwhile, it’s been 1,010 days since the Camden County Joint Development Authority approved the $10 Million Cumberland Inlet Bond, and 561 days since that project’s “ground-breaking” ceremony. Has any construction started? Is the commercial astronaut training school still included? How about an update from the powers that be on when the jobs will start pouring in on that project?
The Camden County mail-order/online fulfillment warehouse site has risks and public-burden expenses that are different than the Rivian site. It is only right that voters have a full understanding of not only the speculated rewards but also the ever-present risks of such wheeling and dealing. And then place your vote. There has been no attempt by Camden County to provide an open forum for such a sticky subject. And since most newspapers no longer conduct investigative reporting, it is up to us to protect ourselves by being well-informed.
We're still voting NO, but we wish we were given a proposition that we could vote YES for REAL JOBS.
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