Wal-Mart Welfare - Tax Subsidies by Local, State and Federal Governments

     As any smart management team would, Wal-Mart executives seek to control its costs of operations and growth.  Part of their strategy is to vigorously ferret out and negotiate subsidies from all levels of government.  A report from Good Jobs First has shown state and federal governments have given Wal-Mart close to $4 billion in subsidies (Dicker 27).  And that doesn't count what the locals have kicked in.  Local governments often give incentives to Wal-Mart as enticement so its executives will decide to expand the company in their communities.  These include property tax breaks, paying for the store's infrastructure, and sometimes even free land.  Subsidies for retail outlets have reached up to $12 million and the distribution centers have fared even better - having gone as high as $48 million (Karjanen 158).  These numbers don't reflect other true costs that are incurred, like having to extend roadways to reach the store, and the maintenance that those roads will require, or having to pay for additional police and fire personnel and facilities. 
     Does Wal-Mart deserve to save billions of dollars a year to improve its bottom line at the taxpayer's expense?  Wouldn't those monies be more wisely used if spent on our own communities instead of ratcheting up Wal-Mart for the benefit of its shareholders?  Shouldn't Wal-Mart be paying us, the taxpayers, for the privilege of coming into our communities to earn profits off our land, labor and customers?  We have what it needs in order to grow.  So, let its expansion team entice us instead.  Let Wal-Mart come, but at a fair price for us, the taxpayers.  What can we do?  We can pass ordinances requiring cost of living wages to help our people make ends meet.  We can sell land at or above fair market value instead of giving it away.  We can collect the going rate for property taxes rather than offering tax breaks.  We can require payment of social responsibility taxes to help offset the costs incurred by us for healthcare, unemployment and public assistance.  And, rather than giving them sales tax rebates, we can keep all of the sales tax collected and put it to good use for the people who pay it. 
     Wal-Mart continues to grow and will for a very long time to come.  It is expanding globally, but still wants and needs growth here in the U.S.A.  In order to achieve continued growth the company must identify new markets and successfully move into them.  We don't need Wal-Mart, but it surely needs us.  We have trundled along in our small communities just fine for well over two centuries without Wal-Mart.  And during that time we had good paying jobs with good healthcare benefits that didn't cost the taxpayers absurd amounts of money.  Why should it now?  Let Wal-Mart come, but at its expense, not ours.  We cannot slay our Goliath, but perhaps we can at least get it off welfare.

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