Why is PA. issuing $200 Million in Tax-Exempt Bonds to Expand Private Landfills?

[JPZenger]

I guess this is what our Governor considers to be economic development?

A PA. state authority is issuing $200 million in tax-exempt revenue bonds to expand existing private landfills in the State. The State would not be paying for the bonds, but the Federal Government and the State will be losing out on tax revenues. The persons buying the bonds would not be paying federal, PA. personal income tax or PA. corporate income tax on the interest on the bonds.

As a result, the landfill companies pay lower-than-market interest rates.

Usually tax exempt bonds are reserved for highways, schools, bridges, etc., not landfills owned by Waste Management Inc.

Meanwhile, PA. has a moratorium on new state funding for public school construction or renovation projects, which the State wants to further extend.

http://classmart.post-gazette.com/pittsburgh/other-legal-notices/notice-of-public-hearing-penns/C0A801810eb991FBE8mQo1F00E68

[Curmudgeoness]

1. Wouldn't it be a better idea

to help the recycling efforts with an infusion of cash? Instead of burying the state in landfills, why are we not working toward generating less trash?

These are rhetorical questions.

[Divernan]

2. Corbett used to work for Waste Management!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Corbett
Corbett left office in 1997 and again went into the private sector, first as general counsel for Waste Management, Inc., then opening his own practice.

Excellent catch! JP Zenger.
A. Initial Owners or Operators of the Project: Waste Management of Pennsylvania, Inc., Waste Management Disposal Services of Pennsylvania, Inc., and Chambers Development Company, Inc.
B. Maximum Aggregate Principal Amount of Bonds: $200,000,000

This hearing is coming up on June 24th in Harrisburg. I'm sending a request to the Post-Gazette to cover this story. I also plan to ask the Attorney General, Auditor General & State Treasurer offices to check on the legality of issuing this amount of tax-exempt revenue bonds for a private operation. Would be good if others of you DUers would also contact them.

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
PENNSYLVANIA
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FINANCING AUTHORITY

The Pennsylvania Economic Development Financing Authority (the "Authority&quot will hold a hearing on a plan of finance for the proposed issuance from time to time of one or more issues or series of tax-exempt revenue bonds (the "Bonds&quot on Wednesday, June 26, 2013 at 10:00 a.m. prevailing time in the Commonwealth Keystone Building, 400 North Street, 4th Floor, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for the benefit of Waste Management, Inc. and/or its affiliates or subsidiaries, including the entities listed below.

[JPZenger]

3. Official history was re-written to delete Corbett's years of work for Waste Management

Diverman - You weren't supposed to know that. The official history was re-written to delete Corbett's years of work as a Waste Management lobbyist.

http://articles.philly.com/2011-06-29/news/29717483_1_tom-corbett-private-practice-thomas-corbett

"IN THE REALITY-BASED world, there's not much confusion about how Gov. Corbett spent most of his time between the end of a fill-in gig as Pennsylvania attorney general in 1997 and his 2004 run for that job.

For four years, Corbett worked as an attorney and spokesman for the nation's largest trash-hauling and disposal firm, Waste Management Inc., in which he advocated for his employer to dump massive amounts of out-of-state garbage in Pennsylvania.

But now that Corbett is governor, his official state biography tells a different story.

His stint flacking for Waste Management has been tossed down what writer George Orwell famously called "the memory hole." Instead, Corbett's years in the private sector are described in a way that would cause a casual reader to infer that Corbett started a law practice in 1997 that in fact didn't exist until five years later."

[Divernan]

4. Corbett aiming for Waste Management's Board after he loses the re-election campaign

As of May 30, 2013, the average Board of Director's compensation package just hit a record $251,000. Boards have boosted pay for their members a total of 15 percent since 2007, according to Bloomburg. And that average hides a very wide range.

Directors at Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A) made the least, at $3,800, while 19 companies paid their directors more than Buffett’s $423,923 compensation as CEO. The average pay for directors is almost six times the $42,700 average salary for private-sector workers holding down full-time jobs.

Waste Management Inc. (WM) rose to 13 (highest paid board) from 172 in 2011 after the board decided to pay itself for two years at once, for tax purposes. Lynn Brown, a spokeswoman for for Houston-based Waste Management, didn’t respond to requests for comment.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-30/board-director-pay-hits-record-251-000-for-250-hours.html

So, if Waste Management ranked at 13th highest paid directors, and the top 19 companies paid their directors more than $423,000 PER YEAR, that's near to a cool half a million a year for One Term Tom. How sweet will that be for the Worst, Most Rapacious Governor Pennsylvania's ever had.