Managing economic development incentive programs is not easy. Here are five common mistakes we see in state and local incentive efforts across the country.
1. It is not clear what the incentive program is supposed to accomplish. Too many incentive programs are designed to “support economic development” or “assist businesses,” which can mean just about anything. As a result, it is extremely difficult to determine which programs are effective uses of taxpayer funds. Everyone wants to know if incentives are effective, but “effective at what?” remains an open question in many places.
Image: https://smartincentives.org
