|
 Seal-Rite Door Inc. announced plans to shutter its Rockford
facility and add 80 jobs to its Beloit, Wisconsin, site just 18 miles away.
Those jobs will come as part of a $16-million expansion of the company’s
Wisconsin Stateline Industrial Park. Seal-Rite Door, a custom door fabricator
and distributor, has been based in Rockford for 15 years. Rockford employees
will have the option of moving with the company.
The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. will welcome the manufacturer with up
to $250,000 in tax credits during the next three years, according to the
Associated Press.
 While awarding tax breaks to select companies is not a productive way to
stimulate economic growth, Illinois leaders should take to heart the ease with
which neighboring states can persuade companies to leave the Prairie State.
Seal-Rite’s doors are hardly the first to close in Illinois and reopen in
Wisconsin. In 2016 alone, Colbert Packaging Corp., Vonco Products LLC, Prestige
Metal Products Inc. and Haribo all either moved to or expanded operations in
Wisconsin.
The driving factors behind businesses’ decision to flee the Land of Lincoln
isn’t lost on Rockford city leaders. “We retain companies every week and we are
fighting against a whole host of factors from lower wage costs in Wisconsin to
lower tax rates in Wisconsin,” Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara told WKOW-TV.
[to top of second column] |
McNamara’s concerns echo those of many other
Illinois cities. Statewide, property taxes in Illinois are among the
highest in the nation. And the state’s hostile business climate
raises red flags in the eyes of prospective employers, large and
small.
But it isn’t just businesses fleeing Illinois’ heavy tax burden:
Rockford is among Illinois’ fastest-shrinking cities. Years of
population loss in Rockford caused it to fall from Illinois’
third-largest city to No. 5 behind Naperville, Joliet, Aurora and
Chicago. Rockford has seen the most severe population losses in the
state since 2010, losing more than 6,100 people, or 4 percent of its
population.
Rockford is losing business, losing population and faces massive
pension debt that is pushing the city toward slashing public
services and raising its already-high tax burden. Those service cuts
and tax hikes risk further driving residents and businesses out of
Rockford.
Without serious reform from the Statehouse, businesses will continue
to resettle in more temperate tax climates, and Illinoisans seeking
opportunity will follow suit. When the Illinois General Assembly
reconvenes in 2019, fixing the Illinois Constitution’s pension
clause and curbing lawmakers’ excessive spending should be top
priorities.
Click here to respond to the editor about this article |
