Friday, March 31, 2006
SWOP homepageTemper-Pedic Wins IRBy Award
For Immediate Release: April Fools’ Day
Contact: Karlos Schmieder, SWOP Communications
SWOP Delays Awarding Mattress Factory for 6 Months
ABQ, NM - This year's IRBy award - given out annually by SouthWest Organizing Project to those corporations and elected officials who most successfully exploit New Mexico's corporate welfare system - goes to Temper-Pedic Mattress Factory.
But due to the award committee's business model, SWOP has decided to delay the awarding by six months.
When Bernalillo County yielded Temper-Pedic Mattress Company a $100 million Industrial Revenue Bond, worth a minimum $10 million in tax breaks, public scrutiny pressured the county to include some provisions for clawbacks to recover lost taxes if the Swedish Mattress Manufacturer halts operations or moves the plant within ten years. (Other conditions, like reporting on job numbers, a preference for local south valley hires and Payments in Lieu of Taxes were also included.)
Temper-Pedic has since postponed its hiring process for its West Side plant by six months, and we have no guarantee against further delay.
Temper-Pedic CFO Dale E. Williams' statement to the Albuquerque Journal that their business model dictated the slowdown (Feb. 6 ’06 Business Section) was refreshingly honest and instructive for future debate. Ultimately, companies seeking tax breaks are accountable to principal stock owners and business models; not tax payers or voters.
In the future these agreements can be improved and communities and tax payers can benefit by incorporating real community involvement from the beginning of negotiations. Without that involvement these deals undermine democracy, hurt taxpayers and are responsible for that giant sucking sound you hear.
Contact: Karlos Schmieder, SWOP Communications
SWOP Delays Awarding Mattress Factory for 6 Months
ABQ, NM - This year's IRBy award - given out annually by SouthWest Organizing Project to those corporations and elected officials who most successfully exploit New Mexico's corporate welfare system - goes to Temper-Pedic Mattress Factory.
But due to the award committee's business model, SWOP has decided to delay the awarding by six months.
When Bernalillo County yielded Temper-Pedic Mattress Company a $100 million Industrial Revenue Bond, worth a minimum $10 million in tax breaks, public scrutiny pressured the county to include some provisions for clawbacks to recover lost taxes if the Swedish Mattress Manufacturer halts operations or moves the plant within ten years. (Other conditions, like reporting on job numbers, a preference for local south valley hires and Payments in Lieu of Taxes were also included.)
Temper-Pedic has since postponed its hiring process for its West Side plant by six months, and we have no guarantee against further delay.
Temper-Pedic CFO Dale E. Williams' statement to the Albuquerque Journal that their business model dictated the slowdown (Feb. 6 ’06 Business Section) was refreshingly honest and instructive for future debate. Ultimately, companies seeking tax breaks are accountable to principal stock owners and business models; not tax payers or voters.
In the future these agreements can be improved and communities and tax payers can benefit by incorporating real community involvement from the beginning of negotiations. Without that involvement these deals undermine democracy, hurt taxpayers and are responsible for that giant sucking sound you hear.
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Karlos Says: While we like to poke fun at these companies and elected officials who do their bidding, Industrial Revenue Bonds are no laughing matter. Communities and taxpayers must benefit from deals made with taxpayer money.
