Cities and states give billions in property tax breaks to businesses − draining school budgets
Channel: The Conversation
Date: 2024-02-23

Students are losing out as cities and states give billions in property tax breaks to businesses − and it’s draining school budgets and especially hurting schools serving the poorest students. 

The Conversation U.S. and 3 academic experts spent months on an in-depth investigation of these businesses getting major property tax breaks in the name of creating jobs (and in many cases, there’s actually little economic benefit to the city), and taking much-needed cash from classrooms. 

Research shows that these property tax breaks don’t actually create jobs, and the investigation found plenty of cases where corporations just pit one city or state against others to save more on their taxes.

How big is the problem? 

An example: Louisiana alone has given nearly $580 million in tax abatements to hugely profitable ExxonMobil since 2000, and just this month, the state took away the right of local school districts to veto deals. 

As one seventh grader put it: “If it wasn’t in the budget to fund playground equipment, how can it also be in the budget to give one of the most powerful corporations in the world a tax break? The math just ain’t mathing.”

More: 
https://theconversation.com/students-lose-out-as-cities-and-states-give-billions-in-property-tax-breaks-to-businesses-draining-school-budgets-and-especially-hurting-the-poorest-students-222940