the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Mar 28, 2016
Sagamore Development Company, the development arm of Under Armour boss Kevin Plank, is asking for over a billion dollars in city, state and federal tax breaks to subsidize construction of a new Under Armour headquarters campus surrounded by a small “city within a city” at Port Covington in south Baltimore. The city of Baltimore is being asked to provide about half this money.
This would be the largest single TIF tax break ever from Baltimore City (five times the size of the current biggest one) and one of the largest ever from any city in the country.
Sagamore claims its development project would provide thousands of jobs and eventually millions of dollars of new tax revenues for the city (but not until after 2040). However, past experience shows these promises are virtually never fulfilled–or at least never in ways that benefit ordinary working class people in the city. Rather they are just excuses politicians use to justify huge tax breaks. And these tax breaks guarantee there is not enough money for schools, recreation centers, roads, sewers, water repairs or low-cost housing.
None of the leading candidates for mayor of Baltimore oppose the huge tax breaks Sagamore is requesting. Rather, each one claims they would be the best mayor to negotiate the details of the deal!
In other words, the best mayor Sagamore’s money can buy.