Mississippi overdoes it with corporate welfare, doling out incentives to land companies or help them expand that in some cases will never pay for themselves.
But if the state is going to give money away to private businesses, it must hold them to their promises or demand the money back.
We’re glad to see the new state auditor, Shad White, agree.
This week, White announced that he was demanding an Ohio business pay the state nearly $235,000 over a failed expansion in Oxford.
In 2010, Mississippi agreed to give what was then called Purepay Capital up to $400,000 to open an office in that college town and hire at least 60 people within three years. The company took almost half of the money but never proved that it created any jobs. Eventually the company, now called Payliance, relocated its Mississippi operations to Ohio.
White’s demand includes not just the principal but $60,000 in interest. He’s told Payliance to either pay up or face a lawsuit.
Good for him, and good for the Mississippi Development Authority for siccing White on the company.
If Mississippi is going to bankroll a private business, it needs to act like a bank and not take lightly when a beneficiary welshes on a deal.
