You know Whirlpool, the large corporation that is an integral part of the city of Benton Harbor and who received $3.87 million in tax breaks from the city last year as a bribe so they would build their new headquarters there instead of leaving Benton Harbor altogether?
According to Business Week, they haven’t paid a dime in corporate taxes in three full years. And, last year, they got a $64 million tax REFUND.
Whirlpool had negative effective income tax rates in 2010, 2009 and 2008. Last year, the company reported an income tax benefit of $64 million and an effective tax rate of negative 10.9 percent, according to company filings. The company expects a similar tax benefit in 2011, corporate controller Larry Venturelli told analysts today.
And now, with a favorably-stacked Planning Commission and Brownfield Redevelopment Authority, thanks to Emergency Financial Manager Joe Harris, I suspect we’ll see more of the same.
Of course, this will do very little to help the residents of the city of Benton Harbor or help get the city out of the financial hole it is in. Why? Because this does little, if anything, to improve their tax base for over a decade.
Ta-da!
H/T Think Progress.
