In 2010, the big corporate law firm Pierce Atwood announced plans to move out of its offices in Monument Square and relocate to South Portland.

Immediately, panic set in at Portland City Hall. Within just a few months, the city council handed out a $2.9 million tax break, or TIF, to help build Pierce Atwood's gleaming new offices overlooking Casco Bay.[1]

This was hardly an isolated event. In fact, by playing one town against another, corporations have extracted tens of millions in corporate welfare out of the city over the last 25 years.[2,3]

But now Mayor Ethan Strimling has proposed a new law that would require corporations getting these handouts to at least hire actual Portland residents and paying a living wage.[4]

It's a small step forward, but you can be sure that the corporations that benefit will fight tooth and nail to stop even this.

The way TIFs work, in short, is that a corporation gets to keep a certain percentage of the money they would otherwise pay in property taxes if they use that money to develop some piece of land that the city wants improved.

(It's obviously more complicated than that, and if you want to a more detailed explanation, check out this or this. And if you want a pro-TIF "other side of the story," you can read this.)

The main argument in favor of these tax breaks is that they create good jobs and economic activity that benefit everyone.

But do they? If so, why would anyone object to a law requiring that workers get paid a decent wage? Or that the Portland residents who are subsidizing the development be included? And if the promised benefits fail to materialize, shouldn't they give the money back?

That's all this common sense reform would require. Sign the petition urging the city council to pass this proposal and then share it with your friends and family.