Dell Incentives Continue Even Though Plant Has Closed

Legislative oversight committee learns of loophole

RALEIGH (By Anthony Greco, Carolina Journal Online) - At the first meeting of an economic development oversight committee members learned of an unexpected loophole in the Dell incentive package. The computer company closed its Forsyth County assembly plant just a few years after opening it despite its record-setting incentive deal. The plant may be closed, but the computer maker can still claim some tax breaks from the incentives as long as it maintains any presence in the state. The presence could be as meager as a mall kiosk.

Critics of the state's incentive strategy say the policy is a corporate giveaway.