(Portland, OR) — Local community groups will be on hand Wednesday to release a report by
Good Jobs First, a non-profit research group, on General Growth Properties (GGP). GGP, the nation’s second largest mall owner and majority owner of Oregon’s Clackamas Town Center, has pursued what appears to be a systematic business strategy that has drained hundreds of millions of dollars in public subsidies and tax avoidance from communities across the nation.
According to a study released today by Good Jobs First, General Growth Properties has taken at least $200 million from local government and school district coffers over the last ten years.
In 2005, Clackamas County commissioners approved a plan to provide up to $23.9 million toward the cost of infrastructure improvements at the mall, including an 850 space parking structure. This was the second largest tax subsidy received by a mall in the nation.
“I work with the children who live in this community and I call them ‘the kids trapped in concrete,’ because there are few places for these kids to play and find affordable enrichment activities. What we really need here is a park, or community center — not a parking garage. We should be looking at how our tax dollars go towards making education and our children’s success in our schools a priority.” Ellen Baltus from Stand for Children is a counselor at nearby Lot Whitcomb elementary.
Nationwide GGP has received over $210 million dollars. This money could have been used by local governments to pay for public services. Spent over one year, $210 million spent would pay for:
6,623 teachers ($31,704 average for a first-year teacher), or
4,665 police officers ($45,010 median for a patrol officer), or
7,000 fully equipped 2006 Ford police cars at $29,600 each , or
5,476 fire fighters ($38,334 median for a firefighter), or
500 fire engines ($421,000 for a fire engine), or
12 million immunizations against Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR)
Clackamas county resident and member of SEIU Local 49 Dawn Smith voiced frustration over the large public subsidy.
“Why does a company the size of General Growth Properties need our public dollars when there are so many other critical priorities in our county? We should be focusing on things that our county really needs like affordable housing for working people, and infrastructure improvements to our roads and sidewalks, what about our fire department.”
Despite taxpayers giving away millions in subsidies, janitors and other workers at the mall are paid poverty wages and have no health care benefits. As a result, these workers are often forced to depend on government services to make ends meet.
“We all pay the price when our neighbors go without health insurance…they wait until they are sick before seeking treatment, usually in the emergency room- the most expensive place to receive care. You and I pay the price because $1,128 dollars of every family premium goes to pay for the uninsured.” Notes Maribeth Healy from Oregonian’s for Health Security.
The release of the report will also be marked by rallies and events in other cities whose taxes, schools, or vital government services have been impacted; including Baltimore, Cincinnati and Houston.
SEIU, the Service Employees International Union, commissioned the study as part of an effort to gauge the overall impact of General Growth Properties’ business practices on the lives of working families.