The City of Bend received $100,000 as a ”franchise fee” payment from Cascade Natural Gas (a large employer and sustainable business) in 2009, and then began –literally- giving that money away in what I view as sweetheart deals to local companies that promised to “create jobs” in Bend.
This $100,000 was paid to the city as a tax or “franchise fee” (call it what you will) by a private entity. As such, the money should be used –like all the city’s revenue- by public employees to meet the city’s Mission of delivering “The right public services for the Bend way of life.”
There are hundreds of common-sense reasons the city should not give taxpayer dollars to private entities. Here are three of the most obvious ones:
There is simply no justification for donating public funds to private, for-profit companies that not only have access to capital but whose owners are wealthy, financially successful business people. Tax dollars should be used to provide public services as per the City’s Mission, not promote or otherwise subsidize favored private businesses.
Second, these companies would have hired employees anyway (like hundreds of other Bend companies, from the local pizza shop to the breweries), without a City of Bend donation. Manzama, Agere and Zuri Group are Bend-based companies to begin with, not transplants; their owners intended from the very start to grow their businesses here and thus “create jobs” in Bend -with or without free money from the city. These companies’ owners and investors did not decide to run their business here, invest their savings, and hire people just because the city gave them $13,000. This was simply free public money being given away, and (understandably) the business owners took it!
Third, the City of Bend is not in the business of picking favorites, nor giving handouts to companies so they will hire more people. That is anti-free enterprise, contrary to the basic principles of capitalism, inevitably leads to corruption, and is a huge waste of taxpayer money. How can you compete if your competitor is getting free money or another type of “subsidy” (with taxpayer dollars) from the City of Bend? Where does it end?
Most residents –including me- support the growth of sustainable companies in Bend, in anticipation that those with viable business models will achieve success, hire more people, pay good wages, earn a profit for their owners, and ultimately add value to our community. I simply don’t think the City of Bend should give away taxpayer dollars in its custody (whether received from individuals or companies, and regardless of the name of the tax or fee) to ANY for-profit company or individual under the guise of “creating jobs”.
The City of Bend should:
1) ask the owners of Manzama, Agere and Zuri Group to be honorable and ethical and repay these loans to the City of Bend and
2) use every penny in its custody in a way that is consistent with its Mission to “deliver the right public services for the Bend way of life.”
