From the Harford Campaign for Liberty:
On July 10th the Harford County Council voted 5-1 on a Resolution to grant up to $100,000 from taxpayers of Harford County to a multi-billion dollar company that manufactures TSA-used body scanners in Edgewood, MD.
The Harford Campaign for Liberty opposes this use of taxpayer dollars and will continue to work to inform the public about this legislation.
Resolution 12-15 was introduced by Council President Boniface, R–At-Large, at the request of Harford County Executive David Craig, R, via the Economic Development department. This resolution also authorizes the State of Maryland to lend $750,000 to Smith’s Detection Corporation, a London-based firm that specializes in Detection equipment like x-ray scanners and bomb-detection equipment. While it is called a loan the $750,000 is actually a gift. The “loan” requires no payments during the first 10 years & the “loan” is forgiven after 10 years. The “loan” gift from the state of MD required a 10% match of funds from Harford. Yet for some reason County Executive Craig proposed an increased tax payer gift from $75,000 to $100,000 from Harford.
The motion to approve the handout to Smith’s Detection was entered by Councilman “Capt’n” Jim MaMahon, District C. It was seconded by Councilman Dion Guthrie, District A. The roll call vote to pass 15-12 was as follows: For: Guthrie D-A, McMahon R-C, Shrodes R-D, Slutzsky R-E, Lisanti D-C. Against: Woods
You can see the video of the Harford Handout here:
The role of government is to protect the rights and freedoms of the people and not to give taxpayer-funded handouts to large, wealthy, multinational businesses.
A vote in favor of this resolution was a vote in favor of crony socialism that works opposite the best interests of a free society & free markets. With this resolution the County Council is picking winners and losers in Harford County, and ought not be suffered by free people.
For information on the bill,see it here:
http://harfordliberty.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Resolution-15-12-Smiths-Detection-MEDAAF-loan-2012.pdf
Fiscal note here:
http://harfordliberty.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/new-fiscal-impact-note.pdf
Some Facts about Smith’s Detection –
Smith’s Group, PLC, is a multi-million dollar company based in London, UK. In 2011, they reported profits of $661MM. Here’s their website and the Consolidated Income Statement for 2011: http://www.smiths.com/ar11/consolidated-income-statement.aspx
-On 7/2/12 announced a $16.9MM contract with the federal government at Aberdeen Proving Ground to produce chemical agent detectors.
-On 6/29/12 announced a $248.5MM contract, the largest ever, with the Army, for “non-intrusive inspection systems and hardware” to scan people, vehicles, and cargo in Afghanistan. The Army is expected to take delivery by 8/31/14 (The Obama administration has stated that almost all of our troops will be out of Afghanistan by 2014).
-On 4/9/12 announced a $27.5MM contract for chemical agent detectors, communications adapter kits, another military items
-On 3/26/12 Announced a $122MM contract to supply detection systems to the Doha Airport in Qatar, UAE
-On 12/1/11 announced a Navy contract of $9.4MM for meteorological devices
Smith’s Detection’s location in Edgewood, MD received an Enterprise Zone Tax Credit. Since 2006, they have paid only 20% of their property taxes due to the County and State. This will phase out over time by 2016. They are also eligible for an income tax credit equal to at least $1,000 per employee hired at this location, and $6,000 per ‘economically disadvantaged’ employee over three years.
Clearly, Smith’s Detection is not in need of a $750,000 gift from the state of Maryland courtesy of the tax payer to expand their Edgewood facility nor $100,000 from Harford taxpayers to train their workers.
The Smith’s Detection Edgewood location currently employs 215 people, with plans to add 100 more jobs that will be moving to Edgewood from a location in Canada. There is no guarantee those workers will live in Harford. The average wage for these jobs will be $74,000 of which only $54,000 impacts the purported revenue stream to Harford County.
Call the County Council today to let them know your thoughts on the wealth redistribution from Harford & Maryland taxpayers to large multi-million dollar, multi-national corporations & their generosity with your money.
Council President Billy Boniface:
410-638-3525
wkboniface@harfordcountymd.gov
District A
Dion Guthrie
410-638-3521
dfguthrie@harfordcountymd.gov
District B
Joe Woods
410-639-3520
jmwoods@harfordcountymd.gov
District C
James “Capt’n Jim” McMahan
410-638-3523
jvmcmahan@harfordcountymd.gov
District D
Chad Shrodes
410-638-3524
cshrodes@harfordcountymd.gov
District E
Richard C. Slutzky
410-638-3522
rcslutzky@harfordcountymd.gov
District F
Mary Ann Lisanti
410-638-3526
malisanti@harfordcountymd.gov
County Executive David Craig
countyexecutive@harfordcountymd.gov
410.638.3350
The mission of Campaign for Liberty is to promote and defend the great American principles of individual liberty, constitutional government, sound money, free markets, and a non interventionist foreign policy, by means of educational and political activity.
The Harford Campaign for Liberty meets every 4th Tuesday of the month at 23 Newport Drive in Forest Hill, MD at 7PM.
The Harford County Council has some explaining to do on this one. How could they possibly rationalize gifting more than $800k to a London-based corporation that makes x-ray body scanners.
And Lisanti and Guthrie tried to make it about Patriotism? I thought the Republicans were supposed to be the Nationists. What the heck?
These County Councilmembers are sure to face still competition to their left and rigtht, respectively, in Democratic and Republican Primaries in 2014.
I live down here in Dion’s area. He is dead to me. Him and Lisanti. What were they thinking.
Smiths makes a lot more than TSA-destined x-ray equipment, check their website and you’ll see they make all sorts of chemical equipment. Maybe the Edgewood Chemical and Biological Center has something to do with their interest in the area?
Which is exactly why they are here and why they will not pack up and move to another state.
Bingo smart guy!!! You think there are jobs and enterprise tied to the deal?
You think the answers are just a bit more complex than these “redistribution of wealth” talking point rejections being bandied about?
Harford County better take advantage of every opportunity to partner and expand its’ business base with companies like Smith’s Detection Corporation.
Got any idea how many airports are around the world? Or how many scanners those airports might need?
You might want to think about parntering with them on some of their other products as well.
Oh Yes! This “smart guy” thinks the county should swing by and take the car out of your driveway and sell it to give a little more money to Smith’s Detection….I mean , we need to do all we can to partner with business here in Harford County.
Pub, if the county want to “partner” with business then the way to do it is to have regulations & taxes (corporate, personal & real estate) as low, regular & predictable as possible consistent with a free, civil society. Maryland should ditch the perssonal property tax each business has to pay. What a joke to pay tax on furniture, equipment, file cabinets, staplers, capital equipment, etc. That stuff was already taxed once when it was purchased.
Guys,
these types of deals are a lot more common than any of us want to believe. At least in this case the county is getting a hi-tech company that will do business here and employ people here. This is so much better for the county than letting our silly elected executives encourage warehouses to pop up everywhere and pay people $7 to $12 an hour.
As a worker bee, I encourage the courting of more hi-tech businesses to Harford County.
I agree giving $800,000 to a london company when you cant even give your employees a bonus that you promised= failure. But if we keep allowing this then we are part of the problem.
Wow smith detection has reported $661 million in profits. Wow what a joke vote all these morons out except for Woods who was the only person who voted against this bill. For the love of Porter this is Harford County not London.
Chad Shrodes come on man. You are reading off your paper. Vote you out, you dont care about people around here. Give me a 100,000 loan for my business. This county is a joke and needs change, I work for a living I would love a loan but it wont happen. Joe Woods is the only person to go against this vote, I wondered about him but now I dont. Joe Woods you are doing what is right. The rest of you , well you are a joke and I hope you lose.
It is clear that wealth redistribution of taxpayer dollarsis good bi-partisan business. Nothing against Smith’s Detection. I hope they make lots of money. I’m just opposed to a company that earned $661M in PROFIT last year getting a hand out from the taxpayers of Harford & Maryland.
The defenders of the Ruling Class In Harford will point out that the $750K from MD for site expansion is “loan”. This “loan” requires no payments & is forgiven after 10 years. This was confirmed with Jim Richardson, Harford County Office of Economic Development. In the world of finance, loans require payments. Since this “loan” requires no payments & can be forgiven it is not a loan but a gift…from the taxpayer.
The next line of defence for the ruling class is that Harofrd’s share of the loot is for “workforce training.” Honestly, does a firm with $661M in profits need $100K form Harford to train their workers?? I think not. Craig even kicked in more that we were required in this hand out. He gave $100K instead of $75K required per the state “loan” agreement. This is just another way for politicians to dole out favors & reap campaign contributions.
Smith’s is not leaving Harford. That is a ruse. Smith’s is producing chemical & bio detection equipment at the Edgewood site & Edgewood is the Army Center for Chem & Bio development. Even if it were true they might leave, what to stop them if some other locality offers them more $$$?? The logic of this deal is flawed on every level. It only serves the future electoral prospects of David Craig & Martin O’Malley as being “business friendly” to quote The Coach. This places Harford’s “rock solid” conservative as an O’Malley enabler. But fortunately this is the logic of the “good guys” so not to worry. Nothing to see here. Move along.
If we really want good government in Harford we have to support principled, fiscally sound conservatives that believe in limited government, fiscal responsibility, free markets & private property rights. Those that don’t walk the walk should be exposed, opposed & kicked to the curb regardless of whether they have an R or D next to their name, depending on your preferred poison.
This effort is just the latest in a string handouts by Harford’s Ruling Class. David Craig is a William Donald Shaffer Democrat. He would be right at home with Willie Don slapping each other on the back & using every tool in the gummit tool box to grow the gummint & redistribute the wealth to connected friends & campaign contributors. “Rock Solid Conservative”? Hardly.
Lasanti probably got a hefty kickback. Much in the same way she does from the Greenway.
This unfortunately is “Business As Usual” for the County and State!!
Well, Joan, you represent the real estate folks. That’s what your business is. Who in this County gets a better deal and which group gets the County government to roll over more often than real estate and developers?
And if it were business as usual for the state then it would seem to me that Maryland would get a lot more businesses coming here than are coming. Unless the state is just very, very inept at what they are trying to do. Remember, Maryland is one of the least friendly states to business anywhere.
Being “business friendly” usually means having an environment of low taxes and no unnecessary regulation. This benefits all businesses equally and allows them to live or die on their own merits or need for their products or services. Giving tax payer money to a few hand picked businesses is crony capitalism and is only “business friendly” to the recipient of the handout – for the rest of us it’s called “getting screwed”.
I don’t want to be seen as ardently defending the practice, but remember that when a business chooses somewhere else then some of the people who are ‘getting screwed’ are the people who presently don’t have a job and might have been employed as a result.
I appreciate the even-handed argument.
However, these jobs are all coming here from Canada–directly being moved.
But there will also be added business for local companies in lots of areas including HVAC, cleaning, repair, supply, copiers, vehicles, both to service the business and the needs of the people who work there.
And when they get here, even if they are all or even most from Canada, remember that they will be paying taxes to the local sub-division where they live as well as the State.
Getting new business to come to the area is always a win for the area and I can tell you that no new business comes unless it is getting something in return. Every time a business relocates there is a line of people trying to influence that business to relocate to the area they represent. If Harco doesn’t want to participate then we will have many more regional wins. And no local ones.
I do appreciate your point about making it attractive for all to come but this IS Maryland and until we change the government being anti-business then we are our own worst enemy.
When these Canadian folks get a look at Maryland they might just decide to stay where they are. BRAC can’t even get people to come from New Jersey.
Of course if Christie were my governor compared to O’Malley I probably would want to stay in NJ as well. Remember, Maryland is one of the 7 WORST states in which to retire acording to AARP and it is their business to know.
Looks like “free stuff” isn’t just food stamps for poor people. Businesses can get “free stuff” from the government too.
This is business as usual for Republicans in office. Why is anyone surprised? They do this all the time nationally, for example (2011-2015):
• Big Oil and Big Gas Tax Breaks: $80 billion
• Deferral of Taxes on Income of U.S.-Controlled Corporations Abroad: 9 billion
• Accelerated Depreciation on Equipment : $141 billion
• Deduction for Domestic Manufacturing : $76.7 billion
• Last-In, First-Out Accounting (LIFO) : $24.2 billion
• Subsidies to Big Agribusiness : $52 billion
• Permit Government to Negotiate Drug Prices for Medicare (money to drug companies): $157.9 billion
• End Tax Breaks For Drug Companies : $50 billion
• Enact a Derivatives and Speculation Tax. : $650 billion Wall Street receives indirect corporate welfare/subsidies via a regulatory system and infrastructure investment for which it pays virtually nothing.
Hey Proud,
Isn’t a democrat in the white house and don’t the democrats control the Senate? If so, then why blame the republicans for something that they have no control over?
Oh, I know why, bias.
Anyways, have a nice day.
Hey Proud, don’t have such smug attitude toward the Pubs. Both Donkey’s gave full throated support for this latest Harford Handout. Neon Dion & Lisanti said they were proud to cast their vote for it. Check the video. They all clearly view our taxpayer dollars as THEIR money. Gee, I thought the donkey’s were for the little guy. 🙁 Wait til Guthrie’s constituents get wind of what he did. He’ll have to wear those Rodney Dangerfield costumes somewhere else.
American Guesser,
When Guthrie’s constituents get wind that he was actually for economic stimulus which will bring jobs to the area even if it is in the form of increased demand for goods and services (and might be in the form of additional employment) for a small investment with a big return they will be happy indeed. What I can’t figure out is what’s up with Woods. Did he fail math and economics? Or is he so anti government spending any dollar whatever that he even opposes the stuff that actually makes sense? I coulodn’t vote for a guy that doesn’t know the difference.
Give it a rest – we’re talking about county money here; not Haliburton or other such whipping post. I’m very proud to have Mr. Woods as my representative. This isn’t the first time he had the cajones to think independently from the rest and another good reason to make sure he continues to sit on the council.
But Woods needs to think with his head and use the cojones for what they were intended.
yes, cajones are for screwing people.
You’re a fool if you think that one party is actually different than the other. They have different flavors, and some people love to root for what they perceive to be their team, but are they *really* different?
I say, no.
PB,
While the parties are different in many ways, they are the same in two important categories; power and money. They crave both just the same.
One word: Solyndra.
“This is business as usual for Republicans in office. Why is anyone surprised? ”
You are totally wrong, It’s not just republicans. Prez Obama(last time I checked he was a marxi-oops I mean democrat) pushed in the last batch of Quantitative Easing- which is essentially the same thing that Harford county is doing now; albeit on a much smaller level.
Thank you Mr. Wood for at least understanding what you voted against – I’d like to think the rest of them simply didn’t think it through because if that’s not the case it sure seems like extraordinarily bad judgement. I understand it’s pretty common to grease businesses as an enticement to move to your location – but in tough economic times this hardly seems the right thing to do; particularly when this company has plenty of money on hand and for all intents and purposes would locate here anyway. Something here doesn’t pass the smell test…
How on earth can Harford County rationalize this ‘investment’? No, this is ludicrous, just give the teachers a raise, and give this other guy a ticket back home.
Give it a rest. You got the raise. Your union screwed you out of half of the bonus. I know, I know, you will never give it a rest until you get everything you want and all of the stuff you might want sometime in the future.
Linda Weeks,
I hope you aren’t a teacher as your comment implies. It would make me very sad to think that a teacher of our children can’t think this through logically using basic math and economic principles.
Let me tell you how they rationalize the investment.
They evaluate the investment the same way that you and I evaluate investments. How much am I risking? What is the likelihood I will get my return? How much is the return?
So, Harco is investing/risking $100K. If the company doesn’t stay then Harco gets a pro-rata share returned (low risk). The return has been calculated elsewhere on this site but is very high although there is some debate on just how high. The lower estimates still make it as much as 100% return of the entire investment in the first year or two. Your local bank pays you less than 1% on an insured account (if you think that TD Bank – Toronto Dominion – is ‘local’). The $100K investment also stimulates the local economy by bringing us more ‘consumers’ which help local businesses including Joan Ryder who will line up to sell them houses and local HVAC companies who will fix the HVAC in the houses she sells them. Local restaurants, and dry cleaners, and car repair shops, and the farmer’s markets, and on and on and on.
This is such a “no brainer” that Campaign for Liberty is looking like a bunch of uneducated reactionaries by opposing this. And I say that while at the same time I support a lot of what they do.
I won’t pretend to defend the Council on this one, but nobody has mentioned the other half of the equation, which is that 100 jobs at $54k a year equals about $5 Million dollars a year of income to the local and State economy, not to mention about at least $500k a year in local tax revenue.
So for an investment of $1 million, we get $5.5 million back. On its face, this is how tax incentives to businesses work, and why they exist.
This is every day government business. But this, in my opinion, is why the Tea Party is a good thing, because it’s another watchdog and it engages people. Even if half of them are the definition of “right wing nut.”
Whether this bill was the right decision or not, I’ll leave that open for debate.
It also comes down to competition between counties. If Harford County turned this “gift” to Smith down, including the State matching funds, and Cecil County offered up twice the money to get Smith to move up the road, Harford would be out the 150 current jobs and the tax revenue that comes with it, along with the 100 new jobs and the tax revenue that comes with it. So when you do your calculations for whether it is a good investment for the taxpayers of Harford County to put up their $100,000 and then the share of the State’s $750,000 (i.e. the money that would have gone to Baltimore City if Harford didn’t spend it) you have to look at both sides of the coin.
The Campaign for Liberty has to realize that even if it wants to be principled and not play the game, others are going to. This is the same logic as to why Ron Paul supports earmarks for his own district even though he opposes them on principal. But all in all, the Campaign for Liberty needs to call for the end of the Harford County Economic Development office because this is the type of work it does, attracts businesses and jobs through “deals” that is contrary to what the Campaign for Liberty wants.
Fact, again your logic is flawed. You state if Cecil offer more $$$ they Smiths would pack up & move. What is to prevent that anyway?? that is the giant hole in all of this. It just like major league sports franchises greenmailing thier communites by threatening to leave if the don’t get the tax break or new stadium. that is one reason among many why these deals are bad.
Also, Smith’s would not leave Edgewood. The Econ Dev Director said as much in his testimony when questioned on the issue by Mr. Woods. Check the vid.
The way the deal is structured is that the loan is only forgiven if the job creation goals are reached over the 10 year period. So you do have a guarentee that they will stay for the life of the “gift”. That is why it is stated to be loan, up until the point that the agreement on the other side is meant, and then it becomes a gift.
Again, Ron Paul supports giving taxpayer funds to businesses within his own district all the time. Or as he said “I put it in because I represent people who are asking for some of their money back. It’s like taking a tax credit. If you have a tax credit, I’m against the taxes, but I take all my tax credits.”
I’m just suprised that Glen Glass and Pat McGrady would be against trying to get some tax money for a business in the district they represent/hope to represent.
What are you talking about, Fact Check? Clearly you work for the County Executive.
There is no upside to bad legislation like this. Rationalizing bad ideas leads to No Child Left Behind, or the Farm Bill– multi-billion dollar boondoggles.
Noble, you math is completely off. Your position is consistent with those who justify government spending. Check thie fiscal impact statment. You also assume all those folks are going to be in the county. Many of the BRAC folks have decided to plant their flag out of the county.
BTW, the definiton of a nut is one who gives taxpayer money to hugely profitable corporations in tough times. Harford is becoming like Montgomery County. BIG GOV& too many government workers at every level. The private sector economy is feeling the pain. If you are a government worker life is good.
You say my math is off, but you fail to demonstrate how. I’ll be happy to be wrong. Show your work. If you decide to compare the fiscal impact statement with what I was actually talking about, you’d see they are not talking about the same thing.
And I didn’t assume that they would all live in Harford County, that is exactly why I made a point of saying “local and state” economy, which is the only fair way to view the “money in” because some (vast majority) of the “money out” is coming from the state.
See, you are only talking about the numbers at the County level, whereas I was estimating both state and county figures.
And I appreciate you deciding to label me and my thinking as something abhorrent to you, because it fosters so much productive dialogue. If there was just some way I could conveniently label you when I’m filling out my Republican party platform ballot… man that would be great, maybe it should have a comment section at the end.
Noble, tell me again why taxpayers in Garrett County, or Frederick, St. Marys, Wicomico, etc, should be paying to help a company of the size & financial capabilities of Smith’s to put jobs in Harford County?? Garrett & Western MD have been hard hit by this recession. How does it benefit them exactly??? It’s wealth redistribution, socialism, plain & simple.
You show your work since you are making the pie in the sky claims. the Fiscal Impact Statement is whe the Administration used to sell the deal so until I see otherwise that’s the deal. If what you say is true I’m sure the Auditor & the Administration would have put it out there since it makes the case for their largess better.
The folks promoting this continue to mislead, lie, about what this deal actually is. There is NO LOAN. It is a GIFT from the state and Harford. If they want to play Monopoly they should be their Banker with their own dough. I expect this kind of misdirection from the Dems, not from GOPer who claim to be fiscally responsible.
Get out your calculator for this one.
100 jobs x $54,000/year = $5,400,000 of income into the local economy per year after taxes.
I suppose everyone in western Md should be equally upset about the $20 million dollar wealth redistribution we just made on Route 24. And when was the last time you drove through the gap they cut through the mountains to get to Ohio? I just did last year and I was outraged that my taxes paid for it.
I am gob-smacked by the “I’m going to be against this no matter what the facts are” attitude. Anybody familiar with math or economics?
We are investing $100K to get a company to come and stay for at least 10 years. And bring jobs with them (yes I now some or many will relocate according to FAIR on this post). That means the company will buy stuff locally, their employees will find housing, pay all sorts of taxes, buy goods and services, and all of that. For an investment of $10K per year?
Noble, can you help me with this or am I wasting my time trying to insert some logic? It seems like we get all of the county money back in the first year alone. Anybody know another investment I can make that will return 100% in the first year?
Alex the reason some in the tea party get labeled radical is exactly because they exhibit this attitude of never being wrong, not listening to any opposing view, and thinking that those who disagree with them must be morally deficient or mentally inferior. They read every fourth word you type and have well developed mental screens against information that does not fit their world view.
All of which is a shame because there are some great citizens in the tea party and it is a group that is otherwise in position to do our country a great service at a time that we clearly need to take control back from the political elite, corporations, lobbyists, and career politicians.
I try not to waste too much of my time shouting at walls around here.
Fiscally responsible is spend a little and make a lot. If you don’t understand that then you have more in common with the Dem/Libs than you think.
http://www.harfordcountymd.gov/Auditor/Documents/636.pdf
Above is a link to the County Auditors projections for this giveaway. I did notice that during the hearing numbers were just made up. Why pay a county auditor and pretend the information does not exist? It seems some would like to make this look like a financial windfall instead of the political handout it really is.
The problem is regardless of numbers American Government is out of control when it crosses into the private sector. The road we are on is very dark and ends in swamp full of $&#&.
Jon
The definition of a nut is someone who looks at a low risk, high reward investment opportunity to get more job opportunities and business demand benefitting local companies and decides to shoot themselves in the foot by ignoring it and then goes on a rant about government workers instead.
This county is becoming so far removed from what it once was, or could be? I see the money that is being handed out on the backs of taxpayers, and it shames me. Don’t be fooled into thinking that this is the largest handout for 2012/13. To hand out money with no real return, is not Economic Development, its charity! Are we as a county in that position? Are we to believe that Smiths Detection is going to relocate because we don’t give them money to train their people? I find that insulting.
No real return? Could you please go back and read the article again? I find your lack of understanding of the article insulting.
Is anybody wondering why there isn’t an American company that can make this equipment? Why does the TSA want to buy, or have to buy, from a UK company?
Maybe the same reason Harford County outsources it’s fleet maintenance activity to a UK based company. And why the largest private school bus contractor in the US is UK based.
Free trade?
Not really. Free trade allows them to sell it to us. That doesn’t explain why we don’t have domestic companies that are able to produce the same goods and services ourselves.
They produce very little that taxpayers choose to purchase. Almost all of their contracts are government contracts. Government officials using tax money to purchase items the taxpayer may or may not want. Are you naive enough to think that a business wholly dependent on fear as the motivation for purchasing their product would not work to “create” fear in our country? County Officials have stated that the money was given to Smith’s because they feared they would relocate nothing was done. Motivation by fear is not something a free society should participate in on a regular basis. Remember when Eisenhower said “Beware the military industrial complex”…We are simply slaves to these folks.
As to your assertion that this is a slam dunk low risk investment; where are the numbers to show the cost of 50 families and 100 employees to Harford County. Surely they should be factored in if Government is going to manage everything. Remember when the county sold their souls to land developers in the late 80’s? What about the TDR welfare program that continues today? These slam dunks usually result in higher taxes for the residents and businesses that don’t get hand outs from public officials.