Readers let us have it on Google

Readers respond to Sunday's column about Google.

From a conservative Republican in Cabarrus County:
A great article. I agree with you 100%. Let me give an incident here in Cabarrus.
Around 2000, billionaire John Q. Hammons came into town, and a secret meeting was called by the Concord City Council and Cabarrus County Commissioners. Hammons made a proposal that he would build an Embassy Suite Hotel if the county would build a convention center as a part of the hotel. He would manage the convention center.
Then County Manager Frank Clifton along with pressure from the city tried to get the county to do this. By a 3 to 2 margin, the commissioners refused, saying if the hotel was a profitable venture for Hammons, he would build the convention center himself.
About a year later, Commissioner Bob Carruth came up with the idea to increase the hotel/motel tax and give the increase to Hammons to build the convention center.
Three of us said that it is unfair to have Hammons’ competitors to collect a tax to give to Hammons to build a convention center. After much pressure from the chamber of commerce, etc., the board said NO.
Then, John Q. said, “Since I can’t get public money for this project, I will pay for it myself.” Last month the hotel and convention center opened without public money. Local government officials are easily swayed by these “powerful” interests and their tactics. If it is a profitable venture, they will do it anyway.

From a Mecklenburg County contractor and developer:
I can appreciate your feelings in your article that the taxpayers will pick up the loss of the tax revenue that has been forgone by giving firms like Google these breaks on their taxes. But I wish you would go do the research that has been done showing that the benefits of a project like the Mercedes one in Alabama that show the overall growth in tax revenue far exceeded the breaks given the firm. The $300 millionpackage given to Mercedes which is still considered the largest package in U.S. history has been recouped several times over, based on the growth in the economy and state income tax paid by those people in those higher paying jobs that have been generated...
I hope you won’t take offense at this statement, but it is unfortunate that the Observer is such a liberal, do anything to sell papers to the masses publication that the overall bent of its articles is so anti-business that an article like yours will be accepted by the majority of readers as being the facts. In reality your article is just plain wrong based on the facts. Yes, there are the liberal think tanks or the ultra-conservtive ones that are against any kind of government subsidy, that are against these deals, but the facts don’t support their or your position on this issue.

From a Charlotte project manager:
Just read your article from Sunday’s paper and gained little or nothing from it other than your opinion that the deal was unwise. The reportage on this subject seems to imply that a check was written to Google for the full amount of the incentive or that otherwise due tax dollars that were forgiven. Neither is true.
This is either a justifiable business decision or not. Your article supports neither case.
An unbiased evaluation of this requires that we know the current income of the property in question (from public tax records). The amount of capital investment (for roads and infrastructure) can either be dug up by a good reporter or estimated by someone in the building and development business.
If the return (expected less current tax revenue) is handsome, you should explain why it is still a bad idea. If the return is abysmal, it will support what you have already written.

Excerpted from a response from a citizen in Lenoir:
Depend on the Observer to get worked up over the wrong thing.
The real and unreported scam – an enormous burden on taxpayers past, present and future – is the hideously ineffectual government schooling monopoly.

From a Charlotte reader:
A few things you didn’t mention in your otherwise excellent Google story:
Google’s competition will continue to pay real estate taxes resulting in a very uneven playing field, and the 200 odd jobs “generated” will be filled by NC outsiders and not by those laid off from the local textile industry.

From a reader who describes herself as "a Charlotte patriot":
Tommy and Jack, it is interesting to note your facts on the Google deal are headed by – IN MY OPINION....The arena deal for a billionaire set a precedent, making one-sided deals a common occurrence in our Orwellian new world. Word spreads on states and cities where suckers will buy snake oil!
As taxes in NC are the highest is the Southeast, with mounting crime, and poor performance of public schools – businesses must be lured with incentives and subsidies. The granddaddy of all deals is the gouging of the light rail scam!

From a book dealer in Hickory:
Caldwell has profound problems. For a hundred years there have been enough jobs in the area to keep expectations low. Now there is a brighter light being shown on the low-powered educational situation. Fully 90% of the ordinary high school GRADUATES seem to come out of the schools saying: “He don’t” and “They was.” “Ain’t” is absolutely commonplace. It is almost shocking.
Google is not going to hire these people. If anyone does a study on their employees in two or three years, they will see that the good jobs go to outsiders – who may come from Cary, but they will be outsiders. The construction jobs will be over by that time....
I am grateful that you made the situation in Caldwell County the subject of your column – and Tommy Tomlinson, too. The leadership needs scrutiny there, and they seemed to have had precious little. I just hope that the Observer will follow up and check in two or three years to assess the situation at that time. I’m willing to bet that it won’t be rosy.