Taxpayers have already spent millions of dollars on Foxconn

Electronics maker Foxconn Technology Group plans to build a $ 10 billion campus in southeastern Wisconsin that promises to create 13,000 jobs – most of them in factory jobs – for manufacture of high-tech screens.

Wisconsin lawmakers have offered up to $ 2.85 billion in incentives in 2017 to attract the world's largest electronics maker, prompting criticism that the state would give too much d & # 39; money.

Foxconn's plans were questioned on Wednesday when a company official announced that the Taiwanese company was shutting down LCD screens to become a "technology hub" with mainly jobs in research, development and design. The company changed course again on Friday, announcing the return to previous plans to manufacture LCD panels after a conversation between Foxconn President and President Donald Trump.

Changing declarations, pointing fingers

Foxconn's contradictory statements sparked a wave of criticism this week among Wisconsin politicians.

In a joint statement, Wisconsin Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald defended the Foxconn incentive program that they contributed to create.

A glance at one of the statements made in their statement:

THE DEMAND: "No dollar would be paid before the creation of jobs in the Foxconn Development Zone. The incentive package is based on the fulfillment of the contract. – Vos and Fitzgerald in a statement Wednesday.

FACTS: The statement is misleading.

Vos and Fitzgerald were alluding to the 15-year government agreement that would bring Foxconn approximately $ 2.85 billion if the company met its capital investment and job creation goals. The company did not meet its job creation forecast of 260 employees last year, but hired 178, and did not take its first eligible state credit of up to 9.5 millions of dollars. The state has not yet paid employment credits to Foxconn.

But Republican leaders have left out tens of millions of dollars that taxpayers have spent on the project in some other way.

As part of the Foxconn legislation enacted in 2017, the state has agreed to grant a $ 15 million grant to Mount Pleasant Village, where Foxconn is expected to open its project in three phases. This money was paid to the village between November 2017 and June 2018, according to the state's non-partisan budget finance bureau.

Officials from Mount Pleasant and Racine County agreed to spend up to $ 764 million to attract Foxconn to Wisconsin. To date, $ 190 million has been spent on the project's village fund, according to public documents. (In 2017, Foxconn has deposited $ 60 million into this account and will continue to pay taxes into the fund in future years, depending on the value of its property.)

Of this amount, nearly $ 170 million was used to buy land and relocate people from their homes to give way to the project, offering $ 50,000 per acre of land and paying 140% of the estimated value of the houses, according to the documents of the village. Village officials have acquired approximately 82% of the 2,873 acres that Foxconn wishes to exploit for its three-phase project. The remaining $ 20 million was spent for funding, legal fees, and sewer and water infrastructure costs for Foxconn, village documents provided to the PA program.

Taxpayers have the hook

These expenses could also impact state taxpayers if the Foxconn project is a problem.

Under the agreement with Foxconn, Wisconsin lawmakers agreed to pay up to 40% of local government debt for the project, if asked. Last year, the Tax Office of the Legislative Assembly estimated that for every $ 100 million borrowed by local governments and unable to repay the Foxconn project, the state could be paid up to $ 200,000. To $ 64 million, considering the repayment of interest.

The rating agency Moody's Investors Service highlighted the state's obligation to the Foxconn project in a statement released Thursday, which provides financial risks for Mount Pleasant, Racine County and Wisconsin.

"They offer this commitment that if the village is in trouble, state officials will do everything they can to ask the legislature to allocate the funds needed to pay the debt service, "said Josh Grundleger, Moody's chief badyst.

The costs to taxpayers are more difficult to quantify, said Steven Deller, an economist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. For example, the state mobilized labor to develop the agreement and to consult external lawyers for the project.

"In terms of the number of hours of work, setting up this offer – it's incalculable – I do not think they've noted the time staff spend on this task," said Deller.