BREAKING: ISU study shows no boon for Wright County Prestage proposal
Study confirms Prestage overstates benefits of slaughterhouse; CCI members demand public money not be used for this project
A new report by ISU economist Dave Swenson shows that the Wright County Prestage slaughterhouse proposal won’t be a boon for Wright County. The report concludes:
average earnings per job are far lower than the regional average;
the cost of increased public services will outweigh any tax gains;
no “housing boom” will result from this development; and
Prestage is touting a far-fetched proposal, which has no basis in reality.
Local officials have failed to release any information about the use of public funds, even though they will vote on a development agreement Monday morning.“We have a right to know how much of our money is going to this giant out-of-state corporation. This is another example of the County Supervisors shoving this proposal down our throats and shutting the public out of the process,” said Tom Hoyt, an Eagle Grove resident that lives about 2.5 miles from the proposed site. “How can we make an informed decision without knowing how much we’re on the hook for?” Wright County and Prestage plan on submitting an application for state funds, which would need to be matched at the county level.“We don’t want our local and state taxpayer dollars handed out to the nation’s 5th largest pork producer that has a history of manure spills in our state.” said Mary Louise Burt from Rowan. “We saw how much money Mason City was expected to hand out to Prestage. How can Wright County be expected to do the same? This is the definition of corporate welfare.”“We’re giving too much taxpayer money to this industry already, while the Branstad administration pushes to cut important public services like mental health facilities and schools,” said CCI board member Barbara Lang from Des Moines.
CCI members say financially it does not make sense to subsidize this slaughterhouse. Iowa has the highest concentration of hogs in the nation, which is incentive enough for Prestage to locate in Iowa without the use of public money. “Clearly, this is not the kind of economic development that Wright County residents want. Prestage will get the profits, but we’ll get the pollution,” said Barbara Lang.