You know those property tax breaks that Austin uses to lure companies like Apple and Visa to town? A Washington, D.C., group says the city is doing a pretty good job of letting us know how those deals pan out.
The nonprofit research center Good Jobs First gave Austin’s program 100 out of 100 for disclosing annual activity online and for providing third-party audits of each company receiving taxpayer incentives.
The subsidies are offered under Chapter 380 of the Texas Local Government Code.
But Good Jobs First says that is not the trend. Two-thirds of economic development programs in the largest cities and counties in the U.S. did not even post information online about which companies were receiving tax breaks.
