Wake County staff review business-development grant policy, highlight living-wage floor and targeted-growth incentives

Wake County economic development staff and the county attorney’s office gave a detailed overview Aug. 18 of the county’s business-development grant policy, explaining statutory and case-law constraints, recent policy changes, and potential areas for future consideration, including whether the county’s thresholds for large “transformative” projects remain adequate.

Michael James, an economic development presenter for the county, reviewed the policy’s structure and said the county’s grant program is performance-based, publicly documented and designed to support job creation, new assessed valuation, and economic mobility. "These are grants that are paid by the county ... to a private company in exchange for jobs creating capital investments that increase the local government's tax base," he said.

Legal and policy foundations: County attorneys and staff reviewed North Carolina precedent relating to public-purpose analysis…