In an effort to boost food access in Baltimore, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake plans to introduce legislation Monday offering 10-year tax breaks to supermarkets in parts of the city where dedicated grocery stores are scarce.
If passed by the City Council, the proposed bill would give new or renovating supermarkets in certain areas of the city an 80 percent discount on their personal property taxes for 10 years. Personal property taxes are assessed against large pieces of equipment businesses own like freezers — they are separate from taxes on real estate. Baltimore's personal property tax rate currently stands at 5.62 percent.
To qualify for the tax breaks, opening or remodeling supermarkets would have to spend $150,000 or $25 per square foot of floor space, whichever is greater, on new personal property. They would also have to be in or adjacent to a food desert, an area where supermarkets are scarce, incomes are low and many households do not have automobiles to get to the grocery store.
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They can put all the tax breaks they want. A great deal of these food stores and chains don't want to locate there for 2 reasons. They get shoplifted in great losses. And the crime and safety is a huge problem.
ReplyDeletePerhaps 24hr armed guards with permission to shoot looters would be a better incentive.
ReplyDeleteDidn't CVS have a similar deal?
ReplyDeleteThey will be robbed blind. That's why she is begging for grocery stores now. Those store owners are not stupid.
ReplyDeleteThis will never work until you get the crime under control.
ReplyDeleteYes & Yes 1234 & 1241. Stores have tried and failed due to crime!
ReplyDeleteAnd the taxpayers pay to clean up the burned out buildings, Sweet ! And how about my employees after they are shot by the Thugs?
ReplyDeleteFor small businesses that do under $500,000 a year they should have a tax rate of no more than 10% now that would help spur growth instead of paying the same rate GE or Ford pays.
ReplyDeletethe other problem for downtown b more is the independence cards will only buy so much. You need real jobs and wage earners to pick up the rest.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous Anonymous said...
ReplyDeletethe other problem for downtown b more is the independence cards will only buy so much. You need real jobs and wage earners to pick up the rest.
September 22, 2015 at 1:46 PM
Oh they buy a lot with their independence cards. They also have WIC, Welfare and housing vouchers. This leaves more cash for them to spend on junk food, dope and booze.
LOL That's funny 1:30. Major corporation don't pay taxes.
ReplyDeleteShe could offer free rent for 10 years in those areas and still no one will risk their lives or the lives of employees.
ReplyDeleteWho are you kidding, since when do their employees lives matter?
DeleteBeyond possible corporate liability, that is...
maybe she can get JPMorgan to kick in some of their profits from the EBT cards!
ReplyDeleteI am against corporate welfare of any kind. But the "personal property tax" is absurd to begin with. I'd like to see it abolished entirely.
ReplyDeleteThe natives attract the type of businesses that can profit from their lifestyle. A ghetto grocery store can only withstand so many flash mob-and-robs, looting sprees, armed robberies and shoplifting thefts, before it has to go elsewhere.
Since they need everything else dictated to them, perhaps a commissary-like facility should open there instead. One where the customer hands the clerk their shopping list and their Dependence card, behind bars and bulletproof glass, and they fetch the items for them in a single order. Like grocery stores used to be, a hundred years ago.
They could open a store for" Rent A Thug"
ReplyDeleteWhy are they stealing they get food for free anyway
ReplyDelete5:48
ReplyDeleteSo they can spend their food stamps on the high dollar items such as seafood.
And then she'll let them burn them down.
ReplyDeleteA relative managed one of the last major grocery stores to close there. For the past 5-10 years, the boyz in the hood charged to "protect" shopper from mugging and theft of food when they left the store.
ReplyDeleteActually, it wouldn't be a bad idea, if it were managed properly.
ReplyDeleteAn urban grocery store, selling just fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts and beans, heathy whole grain cereals and lean meats kept behind a locked countries ter, would mean better nutritional opportunities to the slums. No prepackaged, prepared or convenience foods. No deli or bakery, no candy, gum, cookies, soda or grape drank of any kind. No frozen heat and eat meals, or junk food. No paper towels, dog food or "health and beauty aids". And especially no cigarettes.
Just healthy, wholesome foods with which to prepare nourishing meals. Nothing else. You want a bag of chips? Walk down to the bodega and fork over $5 in cash. You need paper towels? Buy them elsewhere.
Kind of like a generic farmer's market. Quality food, in its most nutritious form, ready to take home and cook. They don't need "convenience" food, they have all the time in the world, and they should use it productively.
I can't imagine a mob breaking in and running out with an armload of fresh broccoli, apples and oatmeal.
Will Baltimore underwrite the shrinkage of profit by theft?... tax breaks on negative profits is a nebulous concept.
ReplyDelete