From KPCC:
Jerry Brown didn't quite say they were a waste of taxpayer dollars, but in proposing to eliminate enterprise zones he all but acknowledges their limited value. The program, which was created in 1984, supposedly encourages development - and job creation - by offering companies special tax breaks if they open operations in chronically depressed areas.... The Public Policy Institute of California concluded as much in a 2009 study. From press release: "The PPIC report contrasts employment growth in enterprise zones with comparison areas and concludes that the program, on average, has no effect on job or business creation. The report recommends a re-examination of the program, which offers tax credits and incentives to businesses in 42 designated zones throughout the state. The program's cost in the next fiscal year is estimated at nearly half a billion dollars. "The state can ill afford to continue the enterprise zone program without clearer evidence of its benefits or a well-defined plan to make it more effective," says Jed Kolko, PPIC associate director of research, who co-authored the report with David Neumark, PPIC senior fellow and professor of economics at the University of California, Irvine."

For the full story, please visit http://www.scpr.org/blogs/business-update-mark-lacter/2011/01/11/time-en....

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