Iowa Politics points to a Des Moines Register article which reports the obvious about the Iowa Values Fund--it isn't working as advertised.
Iowa economic development leaders need to better report how its leading economic development fund is performing, State Auditor David Vaudt said in a report released today. The report also suggested the state economic development better monitor and track companies’ efforts to create pledged jobs and that lawmakers revisit the salary requirements that companies must meet before getting incentives.
The audit shows that the Iowa Department of Economic Development reported that companies had pledged to create 30,732 jobs through Grow Iowa Values Fund for fiscal years 2003 to 2006. Companies had contracts to create 13,115 jobs and had created 10,961 of them.
But the state was still negotiating contracts with companies that would create 17,617 jobs. The contracts outline details like jobs created, company investment, maintenance of new jobs, among other issues.
The audit notes that nearly 5,000 of the jobs pledged do not meet wage requirements for incentives but are part of the project. And companies had declined incentives for projects with nearly 900 jobs.
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