Déjà Vu: An Analysis of Tax Incentives and Auto Manufacturers in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois

[...]the tides began to turn in 1998, when Mitsubishi paid $34 million to settle a sexual harassment complaint at the plant, the largest harassment settlement in U.S. history at that time.4 Mitsubishi considered closing the plant that year - the last year of property tax abatement from the original megadeal - but chose to remain open. The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) provided Mitsubishi with $29 million in tax incentives over a 10-year period through the state's Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE) program to stimulate job creation and capital investment. [...]the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs (DCCA), the predecessor of DCEO, estimated the price per job at $29,000 at the time the deal was announced.11 The state's initial investment totaled roughly $83.3 million, including $40 million in worker training, $17.8 million in highway improvements, $14.5 million in sewage and water improvements, and $11 million in funds from Build Illinois, a public improvement program instituted by Governor Thompson. Revolutionary in Illinois's economic development efforts, it ushered in an era of costly jurisdictional competition, or "smokestack chasing." Since 1985, the state has made several nine-figure deals in exchange for the retention or construction of corporate headquarters or manufacturing plants.