Jan 13 2010
South Carolina Taxpayers to Pick Up Tab for $400 Million Boeing Deal
For the next 15 years, South Carolina taxpayers will be paying back nearly $400 million in bonds, including interest, for the new Boeing assembly plant in North Charleston.
And the Chicago-based aerospace giant, which posted $16.7 billion in revenue and $1.2 billion in operating cash flow for the most recent third quarter, will be getting more than $100 million of the bond package up front from the Palmetto State.
The S.C. Budget and Control Board took less than five minutes this morning to unanimously authorize the sale of $270 million in bonds for construction of the 787 Dreamliner final assembly plant, which will be located next to two other Boeing plants.
The total interest on the bonds is estimated at $129,077,721.70, according to S.C. Department of Commerce documents provided today to The Nerve. With the $270 million in principal, that comes out to $105,020.45 in taxpayer-funded debt for each of the 3,800 promised jobs.
The Budget and Control Board – made up of Gov. Mark Sanford, state Treasurer Converse Chellis, state Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dan Cooper, R-Anderson – didn’t mention the total cost of the bonds before quickly approving them this morning.
This really isn’t surprising given the state legislature’s appetite for endless spending and government waste over the years in Columbia. It is out of character, however, for Governor Sanford to sign his name onto something like this. Perhaps all of the controversy over the past months regarding his “hiking trip” to Argentina has made him much more concerned about his legacy upon leaving office. Opposing this taxpayer hand out to corporate America may have been the responsible thing to do, but it sure wouldn’t have been the populist route.
Share
PffT! “but it brings jobs to the state!”
And it costs the state almost half a billion off the top for these ‘jobs’ that will be created.
These are the same folks who believe the lottery is a money-maker for the state’s schools. Not a lot of deep thought is given to these decisions. And it’s not like South Carolina has the skilled workers for the jobs that will be available.
It’s just a shell game. And South Carolina doesn’t get it that the whole thing is rigged against them.
[Reply]
[...] also hit Duncan up about the Boeing deal that just happened a few months ago. Boeing ultimately decided on South Carolina over Washington [...]