Did extended tax break get Boeing to build 777X in Everett?
OLYMPIA — Nearly six years after lawmakers extended a lucrative tax break to the Boeing Co., it’s not certain if those incentives convinced the aerospace giant to build the 777X in Everett, a new state report concludes.
The company’s decision to do final assembly of the new jetliner and build a composite wing facility in Washington ensured the 2013 extension took effect.
But it “is unknown whether the company would have made this location decision even if the preferences had not been extended,” concludes the report delivered Wednesday to the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee, a bipartisan and bicameral panel of lawmakers.
And committee staff also could not determine if the tax breaks helped maintain and grow the aerospace industry, an objective set by lawmakers. There are more aerospace workers now than in 2003 but fewer than in 2013. They were unable to find a “causal relationship” between the legislative actions and employment levels, according to the analysis.
Lawmakers received the report but took no action. It will go to the Citizens Commission for the Performance Measurement of Tax Preferences, where it will be discussed Aug. 1.
On Sept. 5, the commission will accept public testimony on the findings. Then, in October, it will make recommendations on potential changes in the existing tax-break law that could help determine if the tax breaks are working as intended.
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