Who does this economic development really benefit? That is my question. We’ve seen a lot of deals being made and jobs being created, but on the flip side, we’ve also seen our marginal tax rates and utility bills rise to pay for discretional spending that is very frivolous, and for mandated spending that we should be pushing to change and not embrace.
America is a country built on life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Before all else, we know that philosophy is sacred as it permits anyone the opportunity to chase their dreams and create prosperity for themselves. Our forebears waged war against a large oppressive central government because they were being taxed too much and refused a system where your authorities could decide whether you win or lose.
Using the opportunity zones to give breaks to select corporations and raising taxes on everyone else slants the playing field unfairly. And this is all being done to the benefit of Stewart Properties who is buying these parcels of land at a cheap, developing them using your money, and then reselling them for hundreds of millions of dollars while we’re subsidizing it with our tax dollars.
I’m a small business owner myself, and I do business entirely out of state because the fees and regulations for serving clients here in the state/county are too stifling. There are many other small businesses who have opened and had to shut their doors because they couldn’t make it in an environment where the deck is stacked against them.
Corporate Welfare and cronyism might benefit the bureaucracy that wants to spend our money, but it’s not so good to everyone who is out of the circle of friends who want to work for themselves and chase the American dream. It just prices them out of sharing in Cecil County’s job growth and turns everyone else into their personal money farm.
And now we’ve got a primary going where a new candidate is finally saying enough is enough. Danielle Hornberger has promised that if elected, the tax hikes are being rolled back. McCarthy’s buddies and advocates say that will slow growth, but that isn’t true. Giving county residents a lower cost of living and more capital to spend will create growth by stimulating the demand for services. We don’t need big government to get the job done.
