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i think being able to reduce staff's commute time is quite tangible when you relate that to people's work/life balance. also, if i only have to commute 20 minutes instead of 40 minutes, i'm better rested, maybe can stay at the office longer to get more work done, etc. it's definitely measurable. consulting firms exist that measure these benefits. productivity is quite tangible and everyone (even the gov't) measures it.
maybe the tax incentive is needed. I'd just like to see other options explored before they give out more gifts at our expense. I'm surprised some companies didn't snatch up some NJ office space during the downturn, especially companies that already have a presence here.
its tangible to the commuter, but i doubt there is such a difference in productivity. when you show up, you are expected to perform no matter what your commute was. consultants are paid by the hour to come up with a bunch of crap and its usually by someone with an agenda. in school they would bounce around a lot of that bs but in the real world, it seems like a bunch of crap.
i think the positive cash from the income taxes, transaction taxes, fees would be greater than the corporate income tax revenue you generate. besides, even if you lose revenue for the government but improve the city, thats better. government doesnt do anything good with tax revenue.
its tangible to the commuter, but i doubt there is such a difference in productivity. when you show up, you are expected to perform no matter what your commute was. consultants are paid by the hour to come up with a bunch of crap and its usually by someone with an agenda. in school they would bounce around a lot of that bs but in the real world, it seems like a bunch of crap.
i think the positive cash from the income taxes, transaction taxes, fees would be greater than the corporate income tax revenue you generate. besides, even if you lose revenue for the government but improve the city, thats better. government doesnt do anything good with tax revenue.
you can look up the data. it's out there. cities with smaller commute times (on average) will often have more productive workers.
consultants that work for efficiencies usually have an agenda of making things more efficient. this isn't hogwash. it's analysis of a lot of data and statistics. productivity is measured in all sorts of way.
as to your second point - sure, if you can show me that that is what happens, i'm all for it. usually those tax deals are given to cronies and not just in useful situations. many areas utilize it well though (like tennessee attracting a VW plant that otherwise would never have come to the state).
as for the tax revenues - sure, if that's your point of view. but the state still has costs, and needs to pay for them. or you think those costs just magically disappear when they get less revenue rather than raising our taxes? that would be nice.
you can look up the data. it's out there. cities with smaller commute times (on average) will often have more productive workers.
consultants that work for efficiencies usually have an agenda of making things more efficient. this isn't hogwash. it's analysis of a lot of data and statistics. productivity is measured in all sorts of way.
as to your second point - sure, if you can show me that that is what happens, i'm all for it. usually those tax deals are given to cronies and not just in useful situations. many areas utilize it well though (like tennessee attracting a VW plant that otherwise would never have come to the state).
as for the tax revenues - sure, if that's your point of view. but the state still has costs, and needs to pay for them. or you think those costs just magically disappear when they get less revenue rather than raising our taxes? that would be nice.
commuting may make your life more productive but a company? im not going to believe that. i saw an at&t thing now on how it helps productivity but they offer services that benefits them for work from home type stuff.
im not talking about individual deals like for a sports stadium. i mean an across the board cut. the state is going to have to cut costs, like it or not. i do not care one bit about increasing revenue for government. in fact, i hate seeing government revenue go up because that means they will add more debt, not balance the budget.
commuting may make your life more productive but a company? im not going to believe that. i saw an at&t thing now on how it helps productivity but they offer services that benefits them for work from home type stuff.
im not talking about individual deals like for a sports stadium. i mean an across the board cut. the state is going to have to cut costs, like it or not. i do not care one bit about increasing revenue for government. in fact, i hate seeing government revenue go up because that means they will add more debt, not balance the budget.
yes. the company does benefit. there's studies on increased productivity from companies that utilize telecommuting and flex schedules. there's studies about areas that went to 4 day work weeks, resulted in less employees calling in sick, increased output, etc. productivity isn't some intangible thing we discuss. it's a very easy to measure metric. you can not believe it if you don't want to, but the data is out there and is pretty convincing on how to increase productivity.
you're way more cynical about the government than i am. so i'm not going to change your mind on that. but the fact is, the government = us. the government is not doing things "we" don't ask it to do, for the most part. and the government needs to pay for it. it's when we have to pay for the stuff we ask for that we get angry. collectively at least. so we have to decide to want less stuff, or pay for the stuff we want.
you're way more cynical about the government than i am. so i'm not going to change your mind on that. but the fact is, the government = us. the government is not doing things "we" don't ask it to do, for the most part. and the government needs to pay for it. it's when we have to pay for the stuff we ask for that we get angry. collectively at least. so we have to decide to want less stuff, or pay for the stuff we want.
yeah, i bet nobody calls in sick on the days that they are working from home.
i disagree with the notion that government is us. i also disagree with the notion that government only does what we ask of it. they do what they are paid off to do. government has taken over certain roles and then later people buy into the notion that we are asking the government to do it. the reality is that the vast majority of what government does, the private sector could easily take over if they decided not to do it anymore.
i could complain about the government all day long. the only time im happy with government is when they cant do anything.
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