Columbia councilman: state needs to be more forthcoming with IBM data
A Columbia councilman said Wednesday the state needs to be more forthcoming with data on the IBM facility in Columbia.
This comes after ABC 17 News reported Tuesday the Missouri Department of Economic Development had not answered seven questions ABC 17’s Jillian Fertig asked in an email sent on October 14.
On Wednesday, those seven questions remained unanswered.
Third Ward Councilman Karl Skala said he’s glad there were some jobs created by IBM, but he said there’s a bigger issue.
Skala said the city council should been included in more of the closed-door contract negotiations between IBM and the state.
“It’s frustrating from a city point of view because even though we had a stake in this attraction piece, if you will, we don’t have much leverage in terms of enforcement,” he said.
IBM came to Columbia back in 2010. The company promised 800 jobs in return for $28 million in tax incentives from the state.
It’s a promise IBM has never fulfilled and the state suspended some of the tax credits and programs earlier this year.
The city paid $3 million for the building on Lemone Industrial Boulevard and leases it to IBM for $1 a year.
“There are some problems I had with the process,” Skala said. “The city council in particular was still not brought into the process except for the expenditure of that $3 million for a potential IBM contract. At a city level, when we’re spending taxpayer dollars to the tune of $3 million, we ought to be in those closed sessions too.”
Skala said it’s up to the state to enforce the agreement as far as employment numbers.
“We need the state to step up to the plate to give us the data when we ask for it, both the reliability of it and the speed at which they deliver it,” he said.
Skala also said he finds it concerning that some of the employees reporting to the facility may not even live in Missouri.
He said if the city were to consider a similar project in the future, he would be much more reluctant to support it.
