But there’s another Kohl’s story Walker doesn’t tell.

It’s about the $62.5 million package of tax credits given to Menomonee Falls-based Kohl’s Corp. — the biggest state subsidy for creating jobs under the Walker administration — that three years later isn’t generating the promised jobs or capital spending.

The deal allows Kohl’s to collect tax credits annually for each created job that meets certain criteria — even if that position vanishes after a year.

Via Scott Walker’s untold story: Jobs lacking after big state subsidy of Kohl’s stores @ WisconsinWatch.

“Are you going to follow the recommendations in the audit?” I asked the Board Chair of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC). He crossed his arms, sat back and smiled at me.

A smile that, to me, said I was annoying him.

The clearest path to better outcomes at Governor Walker’s flagship jobs creation agency is to follow the recommendations of the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB).

However, during a recent and very long public hearing investigating the troubled agency, I repeatedly heard obfuscation, deception and disdain for the law.

Via Sen. Kathleen Vinehout: WEDC Leaders Missed Opportunity to Apologize and Reform By @ Uppity Wisconsin.  

But an increasing number of Democrats and even a few conservatives have proposed making major changes to WEDC, either by overhauling it or by eliminating all or most of the agency. In July, Republican lawmakers already reduced the funding for WEDC as part of the current state budget.

Via Democrats’ proposal brings WEDC role back into state fold @ JSOnline.  

You see, not only will the city be giving land valued at $4.25M to Dollar General for free, but the property taxes on the new incremental value DG is supposed to pay “to repay the municipality’s costs” WILL BE REFUNDED to them for the first ten years. That also means DG’s TIF district will not produce a $1.5M surplus near the end of the 10 year term. The deal essentially terminates the stakeholders responsibility for funding TIF District infrastructure and relegates the TIF application to a simple legal platform for local tools of the oligarchy to exempt Dollar General from its property tax obligations.

Via Local Tools Rework TIF Districts Into Tax Exempt Districts For the Oligarchs @ Rock Netroots.

Let’s see if these projects ever get off the ground. I’ll remind you that Eaton Corp announced plans for a sizable expansion with WEDC tax credits in Spring 2014 (just as Scott Walker’s re-election campaign was ramping up) only to outsource large amounts of Wisconsin jobs twice in the last 18 months. Funny how these things never seem to work itself out the way the initial headlines claim, isn’t it?

Via This week in WEDC giveaways and corruption @ Jake’s Economic TA Funhouse.

WEDC was part of another “future jobs announcement” this week regarding a new warehouse for Dollar General in Janesville, which features another $5.5 million in potential WEDC write-offs, along with local tax breaks and land gifts from the Janesville area. And the timing of these announcements are very interesting, because last Wednesday, WEDC was the subject of a legislative hearing related to another blistering audit by the Legislative Audit Bureau. And take a look at what came out in that hearing, where both Republicans and (especially) Democrats were angered by WEDC’s continued inability to follow state laws on tracking loans, grants and job-making progress, combined with the loss of taxpayer dollars from previously failed projects and questionable loans.

Via This week in WEDC giveaways and corruption @ Jake’s Economic TA Funhouse.