Imagine you have a successful neighbor. Super nice fellow, he’s got a nice car, a great big house. An awesome pool and backyard. He invites you over for some parties and a BBQ. He mentions he’s expanding on his property and building a small guest house and outdoor bar near the pool.
Would you reach into your pocket, or into your bank app, and give this person $100,000? When they’ve proven to be 100% competent and capable of funding their own lifestyle and expansion without your subsidy?
So why is Montgomery County so obsessed with giving away tax dollars ($100,000) to thriving multi-national corporations that are planning to expand in the region / county anyways? Why is the state of Maryland climbing on board too with various “tax credits” to couple with MoCo “tax credits”?
The reference here is to the news that “MilliporeSigma Life Sciences Business to Expand Biosafety Testing in Rockville and Add 500 Jobs“. This is welcome news indeed. Five hundred jobs (potentially, take it with a grain of salt – it is not like County government has over-stated such pronouncements before) and an employer who actually wants to expand in Montgomery County. Unlike the ridiculous “University of Maryland Health Computing Institute” announcement a week ago for maybe 100 jobs, this sounds like a legit business expansion in MoCo. It should indeed be celebrated and welcomed!
MilliporeSigma Life Sciences is a division of Merck KGaA, a German based multi-national. Not to be confused with Merck Pharma, the big pharma based in New Jersey.
Merck KGaA, according to a recent Reuters news post, saw some great EBITDA numbers in August. In plain English: they are pretty profitable thanks to a strong dollar and growing business and growing their bottom-line nicely. This is also a good thing and welcome news. A growing, profitable business sees MoCo as a viable place with which to expand East Coast operations.
Again – why does Montgomery County’s ‘Economic Development Fund’ need to give them any money at all? Why is the taxpayer on the hook for a single penny? And why does the County (and state of MD) plan to give them “tax credits”? How much will that “credit” have to be covered by other small business tax revenue to plug the MoCo operating budget?
Merck KGaA is profitable, and expanding. Get out of the way and let them do what they do best. This doesn’t take some convoluted tax credit or the taxpayer’s money. It is yet another example of MoCo throwing money at profitable business instead of simply creating the foundational economic climate that would entice free enterprise to grow and thrive.
There is no need to give Merck KGaA $100,000.00 plus other tax credits. We should rather pay down county government debt (soon, debt service is projected to hit $500 Million per budget year in MoCo) or hire another EMT or police officer with it. Or how about repair a bridge or build a few more actual bus stops on rural roads? Even at $20K a pop you could build five new actual bus stops.
This is just one small example but it is part of a larger, completely avoidable pattern of MoCo tax dollars thrown about at either already profitable enterprises or extremely dubious ventures with questionable payback periods.
