Foxconn Qualifies For $29 Million Tax Credits
Project meets benchmarks for state aid for first time since 2018.
Foxconn. File photo by Dave Reid.
For the first time since the company broke ground in Wisconsin in 2018, Foxconn has qualified for state tax credits. The Taiwan-based electronics company secured nearly $30 million in state aid, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation verified Wednesday.
The company met job creation and investment benchmarks needed to qualify, creating 579 eligible jobs and making a capital investment of $266 million at the Racine County facility last year. That means the company is eligible to receive more than $2 million in job credits and nearly $27 million in capital investment credits.
In 2017, then-Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, and Foxconn made a deal for nearly $3 billion if the company hired 13,000 workers. The deal was significantly scaled back in April of this year, with the new contract offering Foxconn $80 million in tax breaks in exchange for 1,454 jobs by 2024.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said the development was “great news” in a statement issued Wednesday.
“With the current work environment, it’s crucial we highlight and focus on the businesses that want to participate in Wisconsin’s economy,” he said.
Assembly Minority Leader Gordon Hintz, D-Oshkosh, said the renegotiated deal “reflects the more realistic performance by Foxconn” and “protects the public and saves them from the boondoggle deal that was originally passed.”
Nevertheless, it’s still unclear exactly what the hundreds of new workers are doing, Hintz said.
Critics of the renegotiated deal say it’s money the state didn’t have to spend. Michael Farren, a research fellow at George Mason University who has studied Foxconn, said economic development subsidies like Foxconn’s are a “perpetual race to the bottom,” and don’t work to sway companies to locate or expand in particular locations.
“Foxconn is just kind of the poster child for how low the bottom can go,” he said. “The state doubled down on its deal with Foxconn, putting it on the hook for providing an extra $80 million in subsidies and is now going to have to pay out at least $29 million.”
Foxconn qualifies for nearly $30M in tax credits was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
More about the Foxconn Facility
- Foxconn Will Get State Subsidy For 2022 - Joe Schulz - Dec 11th, 2023
- Mount Pleasant Approves Microsoft Deal on Foxconn Land - Evan Casey - Nov 28th, 2023
- Mount Pleasant Deal With Microsoft Has No Public Subsidies - Evan Casey - Nov 14th, 2023
- Microsoft, State Announce Massive Data Center Expansion, Land Purchase - Joe Schulz - Nov 11th, 2023
- Gov. Evers Announces Microsoft Makes Major Investment in Wisconsin - Gov. Tony Evers - Nov 10th, 2023
- State Can’t Regulate We Energies $100 Million Project for Microsoft - Joe Schulz - Sep 20th, 2023
- Foxconn Selling Green Bay, Eau Claire ‘Centers’ - Joe Schulz - Aug 16th, 2023
- Murphy’s Law: Foxconn Deal Is Still Costing Taxpayers - Bruce Murphy - Jul 6th, 2023
- Microsoft Will Pay $50 Million For Mount Pleasant Data Center Site - Evan Casey - Apr 20th, 2023
- Microsoft Data Center Proposed for Foxconn Land - Evan Casey - Mar 29th, 2023
Read more about Foxconn Facility here
When someone robs a bank of $10,000 and gets arrested, the normal punishment is 10-20 years in prison.
When politicians like Scott Walker and Robin Vos steal hundreds of millions of dollars from Wisconsin taxpayers and they get caught, there is no punishment and they always shove their immunity from prosecution in our faces.
There are no words in the lexicon to fully describe the greed of Fox the Con and the hypocrisy and amorality of Walker and Vos.
I can’t understand why their has not been some type of public inquiry or media investigation over the malfeasance of those public officials who negotiated this billion dollar boondoggle.