OPINION: A Balanced economic development strategy is best for Bernalillo County families

Over the past year, Bernalillo County’s Economic Development Department conducted a policy review that included a central role for community, businesses and workforce stakeholders. Using a comprehensive and inclusive public engagement process, we received several useful recommendations from national experts, community members, staff and public surveys.

What we heard from community members, businesses and working people is that we need a balanced economic development strategy. What we heard is that we need to strike a balance between remaining competitive in our efforts to recruit, retain and expand businesses and encouraging employers to invest in our workforce, businesses and protecting our environment.

A community benefits resolution I have introduced tries to strike that balance. It was drafted with input from all stakeholders in mind. The resolution was approved by commissioners and its implementation will be discussed at the March 24 Bernalillo County Commission meeting.

We can be a place that is open for business and one that invests in its workforce and small businesses. That’s what this resolution does. It incentivizes companies seeking public subsidies to commit to investing in our community.

The resolution calls for using a rubric to provide a predictable and positive incentive to encourage companies to invest in community benefits priorities such as workforce development, small business support, sustainability and transparency. The amount of county incentives, such as property and gross receipts tax abatements, are linked to the level of commitment to these community benefits from prospective companies.

Using a rubric or matrix to help county officials evaluate projects seeking public tax incentives is nothing new. Cities from Indianapolis to St. Louis and Cleveland have incorporated these tools to inform their economic development efforts. Albuquerque has used a matrix to evaluate some of its economic development incentives. These tools not only provide transparency for taxpayers, they provide predictability for prospective companies. They also provide a clear idea of what communities expect in exchange for offering public subsidies such as tax abatements and other public investments.

The proposed rubric was reviewed and amended by representatives of key stakeholders in our community, including large employers, small business advocates, workforce groups and sustainability groups. It reflects a good compromise in our efforts to make sure we balance these two very important economic development goals — staying competitive and investing in our community.

In addition to using this valuable tool to incentivize investment in our local workforce and small businesses, my resolution calls for the establishment of a County Community Benefits Fund that would provide a long-term sustainable revenue stream to support community benefits priorities such workforce training, supporting small business and protecting our environment.

This new Community Benefits Fund would come from a small percentage of the tax abatements granted to companies.

The resolution also calls for the establishment of a permanent economic development community advisory board to provide regular input on current and potential economic development projects.

I believe that with the implementation of these community benefits incentives, Bernalillo County will not only become a national leader in community-engaged economic development but it will be a model for other local governments in New Mexico that seek to balance creating jobs with making sure our communities benefit from these corporate incentives.

We know that just offering tax breaks to attract or retain businesses is not enough. They need trained workers. We need small local businesses that reflect the uniqueness of our county and our state. Their employees want to live in communities that are thriving.

So let’s reject the false choice between remaining competitive in our efforts to attract and retain companies to Bernalillo County and investing in our workforce and small businesses. We can and should do both. That’s what county residents want and that’s what this legislation does.

Barbara Baca represents District 1 on the Bernalillo County Commission.