A state agency has extended hundreds of millions of dollars in tax credits to businesses that will bring jobs to Camden. But most of the jobs seem to be ripped from its suburbs.
When a state agency grants $253 million in tax incentives for Camden to keep a scrap metal outfit - a kind of business that regional leaders not long ago said they no longer wanted to attract to prime real estate - it's time to listen to the so-called fuzzy-headed liberals at New Jersey Policy Perspective.
NJPP, a left-leaning think tank, has been rattling cages for months over the size, scope and geographic impact of funneling some $860 million in state tax breaks for businesses to locate in Camden.
Last week, the state Economic Development Authority OK'd $252.7 million in incentives over 10 years to EMR Eastern LLC, a scrap metal recycler. The action prompts the kind of bizarro-world questions that the Policy Perspective missives have addressed.
First, EMR Eastern is already located in Camden, although it also has operations in Bellmawr and Philadelphia. Didn't grand visions for Camden's waterfront suggest that inherently noisy and dusty businesses (despite well-intentioned mitigation efforts) suggest that such prime spots be reserved for entertainment venues and office/residential development?
When local officials first lured the Philadelphia 76ers' practice facility and offices across the river, it was clearly seen as a "get" that moves jobs into Camden and South Jersey from Philadelphia. But many of the other packages are poaching jobs from other nearby South Jersey towns: Evesham Township for Holtec Inc.($260 million); Moorestown for Lockheed Martin ($107 million); Cherry Hill for Subaru ($118 million); and now Bellmawr for EMR Eastern.
Subaru, which has outgrown its Cherry Hill headquarters, already had its bags packed to move out of state when Camden County officials and the EDA stepped in to keep the company in South Jersey. One must ask, though, if the Grow NJ program - which specifically targets EDA funds for distressed cities - was meant generally to rip good business tax ratables from one town and coax them into another just a few miles away.
Lawmakers and Gov. Chris Christie should authorize a study of this issue before the EDA hands out more $100-million-plus credits that shovel jobs into Camden from its suburbs. Maybe Grow NJ should focus more on landing brand new companies, or luring them from other states.
At the same time, NJPP also has raised valid questions about how the EDA projects what each incentive package will produce in terms of jobs and commitments to stay put. For example, NJPP Deputy Director Jon Whiten notes that the EMR Eastern package uses a 35-year timeline to estimate a $17.4 million benefit to the state, but requires that the company stay in Camden for just 15 years.
It's starting to look as if the EDA board will rubber-stamp any proposal with "juice" from South Jersey political leaders. Take a closer look at Grow NJ before it becomes a runaway train.
Send a letter to the editor of South Jersey Times at sjletters@njadvancemedia.com
