Some Sanity in Tax Abatement Russian Roulette

After years of offering capital improvements and tax abatements to big businesses to lure them to town, some cities are now going after those business for their taxes when the companies do not fulfill their end of the bargain:

Cash-strapped communities have a message for corporations that promised jobs in return for tax breaks: A deal's a deal.

As the recession drags on, municipalities struggling to fix roads, fund schools and pay bills increasingly are rescinding tax abatements to companies that don't hire enough workers, lay them off or close up shop. At the same time, they're sharpening new incentive deals, leaving no doubt what is expected of companies and what will happen if they don't deliver.

The example they give is a $600K tax bill in DeKalb, Il, when they did not meet the mandated job level (500) in their distribution center.

My suggestion, and it's one that would involve lots of tax lawyers, is not that the taxes be waived in such a deal, but that the amount of the taxes be a loan, so that when a company violates the terms, you can claw back all the money, plus interest.