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Incentive Evaluation Commission approves 2025–2028 review schedule and evaluation criteria
Summary
The Incentive Evaluation Commission approved a four-year schedule of incentive reviews and the subcommittee's evaluation criteria, adding several aerospace-related items, moving the Training for Industry Program to 2027, and agreeing to circulate background documents at an April special meeting.
The Incentive Evaluation Commission voted to approve its 2025—2028 schedule for reviewing economic incentives and to adopt subcommittee-recommended evaluation criteria during a regularly scheduled meeting. The motions passed unanimously among members present.
The action implements a four-year plan the commission must send to the governor and the Legislature and staggers reviews so the workload remains roughly steady. Randall Bauer, the PFM consultant advising the commission, told members the revised schedule "would add the aircraft facilities tax exemption, the aircraft repairs and modifications, [and] the aircraft maintenance or manufacturing facility use tax refund to go along with the two aerospace tax credits for the employer and the employees," and that the Training for Industry Program (TIP) would be moved to 2027.
Why it matters: the commission's statutory work provides the state and lawmakers with independent evaluations of tax and non-tax incentives; staff and commissioners said the new schedule balances annual review volume and allows staff to use historical data for deeper longitudinal analysis.
Most important facts - The commission approved the 2025—2028 schedule and the subcommittee's evaluation criteria by roll-call votes of members present. Roll-call answers recorded in the transcript were consistently affirmative and the motions carried. - Staff described the planned cadence for reviews; in the discussion Randall Bauer said the proposed schedule means "you end up with about the same number of incentives from year to year," and listed the multi-year sequencing in the meeting packet. - The Training for Industry Program (TIP), which staff identified as the only item in this set not primarily a tax incentive, was moved to 2027 so analysts can focus on recently active, larger tax-related incentives first. - Several aerospace-related incentives were added to the 2025 review list: an aircraft facilities tax exemption, aircraft repairs/modifications exemption, and a facility-use tax refund tied to aircraft maintenance or manufacturing, plus two aerospace tax credits (employer and employee). - Commissioners noted minimal recent activity for the two automotive tax credits; staff recommended those be considered for exemption from 2025 review unless activity resumes.
What commissioners and staff said Randall Bauer, PFM consultant: "This is the way that the schedule would read. We would add the aircraft facilities tax exemption, the aircraft repairs and modifications, the aircraft maintenance or manufacturing facility use tax refund to go along with the two aerospace tax credits for the employer and the employees." Bauer also described using the 2021 criteria as a baseline for continuity and said program-level longitudinal work (with help from Dr. Ellen Harpel) will be added as more data accumulate.
Commissioner Mandy Fuller (first reference: Mandy Fuller, commissioner) and other members expressed support for the packet and the edits the subcommittee made to clarify certain incentives.
Process, transparency and cost Bauer told the commission the review process will follow the statutory timeline: staff will circulate a background document in advance of the April meeting with each incentive's purpose, usage history and benchmarking against other states; public hearings and drafts will follow under the existing statutory schedule. He also said the per-incentive cost to taxpayers for the commission's work runs "about $21,000 to $24,000 per incentive," and cited prior contracts: a roughly $1 million invoice for a 25-evaluation engagement in New York and a current $100,000 engagement in Wisconsin.
Ancillary items and next steps - The commission scheduled a special meeting for April 10 at 10 a.m. to receive background documents and meet the expanded analytical team. That motion passed by roll call. - The commission accepted the criteria report from the subcommittee and separately approved applying the evaluation criteria to each incentive; both motions carried by recorded votes. - Item 5 on the agenda (election of vice chair) was tabled until the next meeting so a commissioner who was not present could participate. - Commissioners were informed that a senator has filed legislation that would repeal the commission; staff said they would circulate the bill number and related materials to members.
Ending: The commission will provide the April background packet in advance, bring additional PFM team members to that meeting (including Dr. Ellen Harpel) and resume the review schedule and public-engagement steps required by statute.
