Incentives

<a href="http://www.billingsgazette.com//index.php?id=1&amp;display=rednews/2005/11/23/build/state/64-call-center.inc">DirecTV to open call center in Missoula</a><br />n<br />nJust on the surface this looks like a pretty good deal but dig down into the stroy and you begin to wonder.<br />n<br />n<blockquote>In all, DirecTV was offered about $18 million in incentives, including a $9.2 million loan from the Montana Board of Investments to Missoula County to build the new call center.<br />n<br />nThe county will issue bonds to raise another $2.1 million to construct the 72,000-square-foot building. The facility, which will be located on 12 acres in a new technology district near the airport, will feature a fitness center, video arcade, Internet cafe and lounge. </blockquote><br />n<br />nI'm sorry, why should the taxpayers pay this kind of money to lure a buisness in? Especially in an area of low unemployment, around 3%. These jobs are going to lure people into an all ready crowded area, driving housing prices further up than they all ready are putting strains on Missoula's transportation situation and adding to the pollution problem that this area experiences every year. The taxpayers pay $20,000 per job for all these benifits. <br />n<br />nIf the State is going to spend money doing this wouldn't it have been a better fit to spend the taxpayers money to locate this in an area with high unemployment like Big Horn County with unemployment around 15% Gov. Schweitzer? Naw. lets crowd more people in the valleys of Western Montana. That's progress.<br />n<br />n<b>If Stupidity got us into this mess, then why can't it get us out? Will Rogers</b>