NJ Spotlight published the following article on 6/11/2014. To read the full article, click here.

$82 Million EDA Subsidy of 76ers Facility in Camden Spurs Debate On Tax Breaks

Andrew Kitchenman | June 11, 2014

It isn’t often that liberal New Jersey Policy Perspective and conservative Americans For Prosperity agree, but yesterday both ends of New Jersey’s political spectrum sharply criticized the state Economic Development Authority’s decision to grant an $82 million tax subsidy to the Philadelphia 76ers to shift 250 jobs to a new practice facility in Camden.

The subsidy to the 76ers, which comes out to $328,000 in state tax dollars per job, sparked a furious debate yesterday. Camden Mayor Dana Redd and EDA President Tim Lizura defended the tax-subsidized move as a boon to the state’s poorest city, and state Sen. Michael Doherty (R-Warren) joined Americans For Prosperity and NJPP in denouncing the tax breaks as wasteful.

The 76ers’ move is just the latest large-scale subsidy handed out by the EDA, which has awarded $4 billion in tax breaks averaging more than $47,000 per job — with 43 percent of the subsidies going to companies already located in New Jersey simply as incentives to stay in the Garden State, NJPP President Gordon MacInnes noted.
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