Following a report that tech company Oracle has begun laying off workers from its Nashville location, the libertarian conservative political advocacy group Americans for Prosperity is calling on state and local leaders to scrutinize the company, especially after having received “nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in taxpayer money.”
As previously reported by The Tennessee Star in May 2021, Oracle received $175 million in local property tax breaks to “further develop infrastructure around the area.” In return, Metro Nashville agreed to reimburse part of Oracle’s property tax revenue over the next 25 years or until the company’s investment is paid off.
Then, in September 2021, state leaders approved a measure through an anonymous vote to provide approximately $65 million in economic incentives for Oracle to build a new campus in Nashville.
As a result of the company’s move, the Nashville community expected to gain nearly 8,500 new jobs with an average salary of $110,000 per year, The Star noted.
As first reported by NewsChannel 5, an anonymous current Oracle employee in Nashville told the outlet he “knows of at least 10 people based in Nashville who have been given layoff notices, but he suspects the actual number could be much higher.”
In addition, the anonymous employee provided NewsChannel 5 with an email from Oracle to an employee detailing the layoff, as well as a corporate Reduction In Force document the company emailed him.
As a result, Americans for Prosperity – Tennessee (AFP-TN) is “calling on the legislature to utilize clawbacks on ECD funding if employment numbers are not hitting benchmarks and on Metro Council to examine forgone revenue from future property tax breaks.”
“If true, layoffs by Oracle are a massive breach of taxpayer trust. It is exactly why clawback provisions are important with any deal the government makes,” AFP-TN State Director Tori Venable said in a statement. “If a company is not living up to their community development promises, taxpayers should not be stuck with the bill to fund a private business’ profits.”
– – –
Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Photo “Oracle Buildings” by Håkan Dahlström. CC BY 2.0.
LMAO Former Governor Haslam perfected the government giveaway in Tennessee everyone got money regardless of party or purpose. Be it corporate economic development giveaways, grant funding or non profit pandering. The public is indifferent to this type of political graft unless it impacts them directly. Haslam knew that and used it to feather his political nest. We the People need to gain a better understanding of the function of government and in turn let that definition drive our choice at the ballot box. We did not get here overnight. it may not be fixed in my lifetime.
And now there’s a $2.? billion dollar Titan stadium on the table. More property increases coming, after the 34% increase last year.
The current day Republican Party exists to shill for businesses, that’s all. Say goodbye to that tax money.
So, what exactly are the claw back terms? All of the details on these ridiculous deals are hidden from public view. If I were a betting man, I would bet that the lofty job projections touted by the business looking for government payouts are not met in the majority of cases. But who really knows? I would like to know where I could research some of this stuff. The legislature gives the Economic Development cadre a big slush fund each year and says “go have fun”! More control is needed to oversee these unelected EDC shills.
Just waiting to see how the Ford boondoggle of the century goes. Of course, the legislature held a special session to give away a BILLION dollars to Ford. So maybe legislative oversight is not the best of ideas.
That’s the ticket. Keep hiring and laying people off until the 5k new job quota is reached.
this is why these sort of agreements rarely pay off. the businesses don’t have to follow then and reap the rewards