To say Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) has been plagued by mismanagement would be an epic understatement.
We could start with the agency’s epic financial mismanagement, starting with its projected $14 million budget deficit, as well as the $8 million in unpaid and overdue loans it was owed from companies which WEDC gave loans.
Then we could move on to the follies and foibles of the individuals chosen to serve as WEDC’s leadership, from the nearly $44,000 in income tax and unemployment insurance compensation debts owed to the State of Wisconsin by the man hired to help the WEDC with its public image, debts that led to his resignation. And who can forget the hefty 50% pay raise given to the CEO of WEDC, presumably to reward him for the great work he’s done leading our state to a 49th out of 50 ranking in job creation.
Given WEDC’s horrible history of mismanagement, it should come as no surprise that a new report by Jason Stein and Kevin Crowe of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has turned up even more financial mismanagement at WEDC. Stein and Crowe reviewed hundreds of records on delinquent loans and matched a database of tax-delinquent companies against firms that have received state jobs incentives such as grants, loans or other awards.
The review found seven companies that benefited from nearly $1.3 million worth of taxpayer subsidies — including loans, grants and loan guarantees — and that owe nearly $300,000 in state taxes and other charges, according to a recent count in state records. One business actually owed taxes at the time the state gave it the award, and others, like Milwaukee Iron Works, had growing financial problems that could have been spotted by state officials had they looked deeper into the companies.
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