Great Example of Government Planning
Oregon Governor Kunlongoski wanted to give tax breaks to companies building windmills. The Oregon Department of Energy estimated the tax breaks would cost the state $13 million in foregone revenues over the first two years. The governor said that number was too big, so officials told the legislature they would cost only $1.2 million.
Flickr photo by qousqous.
The resulting “tax incentives are now among the nation’s richest.” How much did they end up costing? $167 million in the first two years — nearly 13 times the secret projections and 140 times what they told the legislature. In the second two years, they anticipate the cost will be $243 million.
As someone commented on fark.com, this “seems like a win-win.” Liberals should make be happy because we have more windmills and conservatives should be happy because the state has less money. Maybe if Oregon gets enough windmills, the state will wither away.
posted in News commentary | 28 Comments
