The Major Events Trust Fund

This is the trust referred to in the previous story - it's new to me. Never heard of it before. I have a hunch it's not well publicized though. It cuts against the argument that business in Texas is self sufficient and does not need government support. It does - at least in cases like this.

Here are a few stories about the fund.

- The Comptroller's Office: The rules of attraction: An overview of state events trust funds.
- Texas State Auditor: An Audit Report on the Major Events Trust Fund.
- Texas Economic Development Corporation: Event Trust Funds.

The Texas Tribune highlighted the auditors report which found little evidence of impact.

- Audit: Scant Proof of Event Fund's Tax Impact.

For more than a decade, Texas has dangled tens of millions of dollars in incentives to entice events like Formula 1 racing, cutting horse competitions, the Super Bowl and Final Four college basketball to the state.

But money from the Major Events Trust Fund — long run by the state comptroller but recently moved to Gov. Greg Abbott's office — has been spent on things it probably shouldn't, and no one's done a great job of testing whether the state gets a good return on its investment, a new audit has found.

The audit released Thursday by State Auditor John Keel, examined performance of the Major Events Trust Fund from its inception in fiscal 2010 through January 2015. The fund uses incremental tax receipts — the extra sales, beverage and hotel occupancy taxes presumably generated when people flock to Texas for an event — to pay some of the expenses of putting on a car race, basketball game or whatever the event might be.

Keel's audit examined seven major events picked from among the biggest, most expensive or highest profile hosted by the state. The events include the 2011 Super Bowl XLV, the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 National Cutting Horse Association Triple Crown, the 2012, 2013 and 2014 Formula One United States Grand Prix and the 2013 NBA All Star Game.

In general, the audit found, the comptroller's office followed the rules when deciding which events were eligible for funds, and in parceling out the money. But the report found weaknesses in the process

From the Dallas Observer: DENTON USED TO BE KINDA COOL. THEN IT PAID $8 MIL FOR A BUC-EE'S.

I though this served as a good reminder that cities are primarily economic units. I can't speak to the wisdom of this deal . . .

- Click here for the story.

. . . but it would be interesting to look at how Buc-ee's has developed a strategy which persuades local cities to provide tax incentives - and infrastructure - for it to build stations there and whether these turn out to be worthwhile economically. This shouldn't stop with Buc-ee's, Walmart and many other do the same.

- Click here for Denton OKs incentives for Buc-ee's Travel Center.

The battle over Buc-ee’s raged deep into the night at City Hall, which was packed with residents for and against the massive, trendy travel center. Under the proposal, Buc-ee’s would provide more than $5 million in infrastructure to the site on the west side of Interstate 35E between Loop 288 and Wind River Lane.

Neighbors fear congestion, noise pollution, light pollution, and other issues that they believe could harm lifestyle and property values. About 20 speakers sounded off to council members for and against the project. Opponents said it would bring low-paying jobs, and that tax breaks would add insult to injury.

Supporters said Buc-ee’s is a high quality operation that would bring visitors, and provide property and sales tax revenue. The proposed travel center would have 96 gas pumps and about 50,000 feet of retail space.

$19 billion a year in tax incentives used to lure businesses to Texas

The NYT takes a look at the means used to lure businesses to Texas and who benefits from them:

Under Mr. Perry, Texas gives out more of the incentives than any other state, around $19 billion a year, an examination by The New York Times has found. Texas justifies its largess by pointing out that it is home to half of all the private sector jobs created over the last decade nationwide. As the invitation to the fund-raiser boasted: “Texas leads the nation in job creation.”


Yet the raw numbers mask a more complicated reality behind the flood of incentives, the examination shows, and raise questions about who benefits more, the businesses or the people of Texas.

Along with the huge job growth, the state has the third-highest proportion of hourly jobs paying at or below minimum wage. And despite its low level of unemployment, Texas has the 11th-highest poverty rate among states.

“While economic development is the mantra of most officials, there’s a question of when does economic development end and corporate welfare begin,” said Dale Craymer, the president of the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association, a group supported by business that favors incentives programs.