This is only the latest win for both Tennessee and North Carolina. Charlotte snagged the HQs of Honeywell, BB&T and SunTrust in the last six months alone. And one of Tennessee's scores included Montgomery County's own Discovery Communications, which moved the vast majority of its Silver Spring jobs to beautiful Knoxville.
Medacta has chosen a site at 6640 Carothers Parkway in the Nashville suburb of Franklin, where it will not only locate its HQ, but also construct a research and development facility, the Williamson Herald reports. This is exactly the type of suburban office park site Montgomery County could have offered. Barring the fact that the Montgomery County Council is hostile to business, and just raised taxes yet again, why didn't the County make a bid for Medacta?
Dentsply Sirona will create 320 new jobs in Charlotte, the York Daily Record reports. Considering that biotech has been the only bright spot in Montgomery County's moribund economy for two decades, why is the County not even pursuing healthcare-related firms like DS and Medacta?
Sounds like the NoVA Cartel lost out on all of these.
ReplyDeleteFor Medacta, there are a total of 50 jobs involved. This is not their global headquarters, which is in Switzerland.
"Charlotte snagged the HQs of Honeywell, BB&T and SunTrust in the last six months alone."
BB&T's current headquarters is already North Carolina (in Winston-Salem). BB&T and SunTrust are merging. Charlotte has been a financial hub for decades now.
Honeywell's current headquarters are in New Jersey.
"Dentsply Sirona['s] gleaming York, Pennsylvania headquarters"
Really?
Also, do you have permission to use that image from The Simpsons?
9:28: You obviously have no clue what you're talking about - Honeywell is moving to Charlotte! Suntrust is moving to Charlotte from Georgia, and BB&T is moving to Charlotte from Winston Salem and merging with Suntrust.
ReplyDeleteAll those areas are up-and-coming growing locations. You wouldn't recognize today's Charlotte if you hadn't been there in a dozen years, and it's still growing. I was there in September and was amazed at the changes.
ReplyDelete11:13am Hans isn't mentioned at all in the article.
ReplyDeleteI think you're the one who can't let go.
Robbie, how come you didn't report on fat communist Marc Elrich's gaffe at the groundbreaking of the Avocet?
ReplyDelete@5:30 PM: Yes, a lot of people seem to think it was a gaffe. Yet surely Elrich was being realistic in saying that the ability of the Avocet to attract tenants remains to be seen. I’d been interested to learn whether others think Elrich should have been more upbeat, or whether it’s good that he is realistic.
ReplyDelete5:30: It wasn't a gaffe - Elrich was just telling the truth. Riemer was the one who made the gaffe, claiming - just like you, suspiciously - that building an office building will attract businesses here.
ReplyDeleteLOL - try telling that to Carr Properties, building new office buildings at 4500 East-West Highway and 7272 Wisconsin, but ending up losing Intelsat and Amazon to Virginia thanks to our incompetent elected officials like Riemer and their anti-business policies.
"Move to MoCo, We Just Raised Taxes - Again!" is not a compelling economic development pitch.
Riemer sounded like an idiot, and once again the obsequious, colluding press didn't challenge him on it. His absurd statement should have been immediately followed by, "But, Mr. Riemer, several new office buildings have come online in recent years, and the County still hasn't attracted a single major corporate HQ in over 20 years."
Would love to hear his response. Too bad the press is more concerned about getting retweets from Helpless Hans than in holding him accountable as an incompetent, corrupt and criminal elected official.
"holding him accountable as an incompetent, corrupt and criminal elected official."
ReplyDeleteThat's just not true. He may be incompetent, I'm not making judgements on that...but the corrupt and criminal part is pure BS.
5:23: The corrupt and criminal parts are totally accurate. Riemer was caught (by my investigation) charging taxpayers to fund a political PR website for himself, as well as for gas to meet with at least 3 of his campaign donors privately. He then further broke the law by not disclosing those private meetings with developers who have projects before the Council and Planning Board at the next Council meeting.
ReplyDeleteRiemer also failed to immediately report illegal activity in the DLC he was aware of to the authorities in 2014. He was arrested last year for trespassing in Washington, D.C.
Riemer voted to create a $300 million+ federal tax shelter for a donor who contributed at least $4000 to his campaign.
Facts.
Once again, Hans Riemer, and anyone else in the County government, have no ability to "create a federal tax shelter". This bullshit has been debunked again and again in the comments here.
ReplyDeleteOnly the IRS and Congress have the authority to do that. Do you not understand how our federal system of government works?
"Riemer also failed to immediately report illegal activity in the DLC he was aware of to the authorities in 2014."
ReplyDeleteIf County Council members are somehow responsible for reporting those three flunkies drinking pilfered beer on the job, wouldn't all the other eight be guilty of this as well?
Also, have you ever reported any of your claims of illegal activity, to the proper authorities?
Actually that last point is a really interesting one. Robert claims a lot of illegal activity but has he reported any himself?
DeleteDentsply Sirona "specializes in anesthetics, plaque and gum disease prevention (prophylaxis) and tooth polishers. It also designs and constructs artificial teeth."
ReplyDeleteIs this really the same as "biotech"?
"Medacta has chosen a site at 6640 Carothers Parkway in the Nashville suburb of Franklin, where it will not only locate its HQ, but also construct a research and development facility."
ReplyDeleteThat is an existing office building, where they will relocate or hire a total of 50 employees.
WTOP just moved 200 employees from the District to Friendship Heights.
Being arrested for peace-fully protesting something that harms his constituents is actually a plus, not a negative. It IS the 21st century and all.
ReplyDeleteAs said by 6:59AM, the county cannot create a federal tax shelter. Individuals and corporations can. And a tax shelter is any method of reducing taxable income that results in a reduction of tax payments. They aren't all questionable. for heaven's sake, your 401-K and your HSA are both tax shelters.
All this Marcia, Marcia, Marcia-ing has gotten old. You need a new shtick.
7:36/6:59: The County absolutely can create a federal tax shelter - by passing a bill or resolution that is required in order to create the shelter in Montgomery County, in this case the Council passing the necessary approvals to allow creation of a museum in which around $360 million is being sheltered from federal taxes.
ReplyDeleteThat's $360 million not going to teachers, police, fire, the armed forces, veterans and the poor. Thanks to Hans & the previous Council!
7:36: LOL - you think there's even a remote comparison between a newscaster or radio sales guy (or gal) and R&D jobs in the medical device field? No wonder you are clueless on economic development.
7:14: Wrong - that's an oldie but a baddie you've used 1000 times, Saul Alinsky. If you go back and actually watch the NBC4 reports, you will learn there was more illegal activity than the on-the-job drinking, including employees stealing alcohol to resell or drink themselves. Stolen from CUSTOMERS' orders, to boot.
It's FEDERAL taxes, which would not be going to teachers, police, fire etc.
ReplyDeleteIt really would behoove you to learn before you report incorrect information.
9:45: If you're claiming no federal funds or resources go to schools, teachers, education, police and fire departments, you are very poorly informed.
ReplyDeleteNope, not saying that.
ReplyDeleteHow is the $360 million being sheltered from Federal taxes? what income are you referring to?
"7:14: Wrong - that's an oldie but a baddie you've used 1000 times, Saul Alinsky. If you go back and actually watch the NBC4 reports, you will learn there was more illegal activity than the on-the-job drinking, including employees stealing alcohol to resell or drink themselves. Stolen from CUSTOMERS' orders, to boot."
ReplyDeleteSo why was Hans Riemer the sole County employee, out of thousands, who was responsible for "reporting this"?
Seriously? The water/sewer line? Sheesh.
ReplyDeleteAnd the $360 million? Is that the donated art? If so, it's not like they would have sold it, they would have held onto it.
10:50: You don't seem to understand - the art is a front for the tax shelter.
ReplyDelete10:26: Very simple - he was in cahoots with the NBC4 reporter while her investigation was underway. When the information she uncovered threatened his reelection (Riemer has oversight over the DLC as a Councilman), the TV report was postponed until 2 days after Election Day.
Yet Riemer knew of the illegal activity for all those weeks in October, and did not report it to the authorities for political reasons. #Oops
9:58: The billionaire's income - the guy who came up with the museum tax shelter idea - that's what's being protected. Are you just pretending to be this naive?
What exactly is the special tax situation relating to Glenstone, that does not exist at other art galleries? How would you force art works to pay taxes?
ReplyDeleteAlso, what was Hans Riemer's special situation among the 9 Council members who ran in that election relating to the DLC?
ReplyDelete9:24: Most art galleries are not owned by a single billionaire. The $360 million is not taxable after being moved into the tax shelter of the museum. It's not that hard to figure out, Saul.
ReplyDelete9:47: His special situation is that he and the NBC4 reporter were the only two people aware of the criminal activity in the DLC prior to Election Day 2014.
"His special situation is that he and the NBC4 reporter were the only two people aware of the criminal activity in the DLC prior to Election Day 2014."
ReplyDeleteReally? Where did you get that idea?
"The $360 million is not taxable after being moved into the tax shelter of the museum."
ReplyDeleteIf the artwork is sitting in a museum, how is it benefitting him?
Why would the $360 million be taxable in the 1st place? It would only be taxable on the capital gains if it was sold. There's no tax if you keep it on your wall. Just like a home or rental property, there's no tax until you sell.
ReplyDeleteIt's a Foundation, not a personal account.
Anna, here is a useful article that intelligently explains the issue rather than just trying to repeatedly jam square pegs into round holes:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/arts/blog/13082597/congress-wants-to-know-if-two-d-c-area-museums-are-actually-museums
"Just like a home or rental property, there's no tax until you sell."
ReplyDeleteAnd since it is not real property, it is not subject to property tax.
8:14: In this case, it is a shelter from federal taxes - $360 million shielded from federal taxes. The article 8:11 linked to pretty much explains all of this, or another City Paper report on it did.
ReplyDelete8:01: The property is not what's taxable - it's all of the assets that were moved into the entity that are now shielded from federal taxation. $360 million.
6:24: It was an undercover investigation by NBC4 instigated as a PR stunt by Hans Riemer. He was the only elected official featured in the report.
If the DLC pilfering bust had been reported before the election, Helpful Hans would have probably received even more votes.
ReplyDelete8:37: He would have received less votes, because he was supposed to have been exercising oversight authority over the DLC for the previous 4 years. Kind of like the Peter Bang conspiracy. #Oops
ReplyDeleteI know the story. I'm objecting to your $360 million in taxes scenario.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that they are taking advantage of legal loopholes does not make it criminal. Should the laws be changed or made more specific? Yes. Probably. Is this the only tax shelter loophole? Nope.
But this is no different than Granny donating her Exxon stock to Little Sisters of the Poor, taking a charitable deduction for the current stock price and not paying tax on the capital gains.
Like I said before, there is NO TAX until the asset is sold. And, let's talk about that stock. If it's worth $360 million, you also need the basis (cost). Only the difference, less selling costs is what tax is based on.
Robert Dyer has never paid any taxes other than sales and excise taxes, so all of this is completely beyond his understanding.
ReplyDelete9:01: A U.S. Senate committee was actually looking into the question of whether this particular gimmick was legal or not. So it wasn't like donating to the Little Sisters. Moreover, the issue at hand is Hans Riemer voting to allow creation of the tax shelter after receiving $4000 from the beneficiary.
ReplyDeleteThat's an ethical quandary, as is Riemer's hypocrisy - he can't be a progressive and in favor of $360 million tax shelters for billionaires.
9:03: You have no clue what taxes I've paid, and have no access to any of my financial records, moron. People are laughing at you right now, as they often do, old sport.
Again with the ‘Old Sport’. Are you unable to understand basic person to person interaction? Using these phrases, your YouTube channel and your almost obsessive use of the word ‘Moribund’ is just plain off.
DeleteThe Council voted unanimously to allow the water/sewer connection to Glenstone.
ReplyDeleteWhy no scrutiny of Nancy Floreen, George Leventhal, Roger Berliner, Craig Rice, Phil Andrews, Nancy Navarro, Valerie Ervin, or fat communist Marc Elrich, for their votes?
" A U.S. Senate committee was actually looking into the question of whether this particular gimmick was legal or not."
ReplyDeletehttps://www.forpurposelaw.com/senate-review-private-museums-ends/
It's legal.
"Hans Riemer voting to allow creation of the tax shelter"
ReplyDeleteNope. Congress and the IRS created the tax exemption.
He voted, as one of nine Council members, to allow a sewer connection to the facility.
Even if the sewer connection did not get permitted, the museum could have still been built with a septic tank.
Did anyone else do a double-take watching the news when they announced Virginia Beach's mayor...Bobby Dyer?
ReplyDeleteThe council also voiced no objections to a sewer request from Shri Mangal Mandir, a Hindu temple in Silver Spring.
ReplyDelete[Both] are in areas of the county where sewer has been banned by the county Planning Board and the County Council in favor of septic systems to restrict development. But under some circumstances, the council has approved sewer requests for private nonprofits such as religious institutions and schools.
Rales and his wife, Emily Wei Rales, Glenstone’s director, have said they prefer sewer because the life span of septic systems is typically 25 to 50 years. Under the terms approved Tuesday, the sewer connection would be for the art galleries and related structures only — not his house, which is also on the property.
""Hans Riemer voting to allow creation of the tax shelter"
ReplyDeleteThis statement is false not only for its claims about the tax exemption, but also because Glenstone opened in 2006, 5 years before Hans Riemer joined the Council.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenstone
ReplyDeleteOdd how Dyer rants about how the super-rich are supposedly abandoning Montgomery County, and rants about the supposed anti-business climate in our County...while he routinely attacks one of our County's most successful residents - who just happens to be a huge investor in our biotech sector.
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danaher_Corporation
1:18: You don't want to go there - Danaher is well-known as a pioneer in outsourcing American jobs overseas. Among the factories they closed was one in Maryland.
ReplyDelete12:40: Wrong - that was only a small structure. They needed the vote Hans took to get the whole museum complex built. The size of the tax exemption has been widely reported. You are #FakeNews.
9:53: A tax law is not a tax shelter entity. Hans had to vote to allow creation of the entity.
"You don't want to go there - Danaher is well-known as a pioneer in outsourcing American jobs overseas. Among the factories they closed was one in Maryland."
ReplyDeleteTo where were the 100 jobs that were lost when the Apex Tool factory in Hanover MD closed, "outsourced"? Or was it simply a reduction in manufacturing capacity?
The Donald J. Trump Foundation was a New York-based private foundation founded and chaired by then-businessman Donald Trump, now the 45th President of the United States. Trump originally created the foundation to donate his proceeds from his book Trump: The Art of the Deal to charitable causes. Trump stopped contributing personal funds to the foundation in 2008 and instead solicited donations from outsiders.
ReplyDeleteDuring the 2016 presidential election campaign the foundation's activities came under intense media scrutiny, initially by the Washington Post's David Fahrenthold, who went on to win the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for his investigatory work. Investigations subsequently revealed various ethical and legal violations, including failure to register in New York, self-dealing, and illegal campaign contributions. In December 2016, Trump attempted to dissolve the foundation, but the office of the New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman immediately blocked the dissolution pending completion of its then ongoing investigation.
On June 14, 2018, New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood filed a civil lawsuit against the foundation as well as Trump himself and Trump's three adult children, Ivanka, Eric, and Donald Jr., alleging "persistently illegal conduct" with respect to the foundation's money. She asked the court for an order dissolving the charity and imposing $2.8 million in restitution and penalties. She also made referrals to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). On June 18, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's office announced that the governor would refer the civil case to New York's Department of Taxation and Finance if it is requested to do so by the Attorney General's office.[13] Given the violations alleged in the civil case, some experts believe a tax investigation could lead to state criminal charges filed against Trump. On December 18, 2018, Attorney General Underwood announced that the foundation had agreed to shut down under court supervision and distribute its remaining assets to court-approved charities, although she did not end investigations of the foundation and its directors.
"Hans had to vote to allow creation of the entity."
ReplyDeleteThe "entity" is created by a STATE GOVT and authorized as a charity by the FEDERAL GOVT.
Period. The End. That's how it works.
The council members voted to allow the EXISTING ENTITY to get a sewer line.
6:22 PM
5:35: Wrong! Riemer's sugar daddy could not have sheltered $360 million without the full museum complex, which was only made possible by the vote of Hans, et al. They didn't take a principled stand for progressive values when the rubber met the road.
ReplyDeleteWrong! Yes, they could have.
ReplyDeleteLet's walk thru this:
1) The foundation was created in MD and approved as a non-profit by the Feds.
2) They had a small structure, which held x# of art pieces.
3) To increase the size of the structure, and therefore include more art, they needed to address the septic/sewer situation.
4) Septic was always available, but to get sewer, it needed approval.
So, I see where you are with the needing more room for $340 million of art, but lose you because they would have just gone with septic and still had room for the $340M art.
Sorry, $360 million. Sheesh, good thing i'm not an accountant...oh...wait...never mind.
ReplyDeleteLike I say when we're out for dinner...you all divide up the bill...my workday is over! ;)
7:06: They couldn't do the full museum with septic. That's why - duh! - they sought the sewer waiver.
ReplyDeleteRales never said that. He only said that replacing the septic tank at the end of its lifespan would be a hassle.
ReplyDelete7:31: Wrong! Septic tanks require land space be set aside, thereby reducing the amount of buildable land.
ReplyDeleteThe septic tank would have required approximately two acres to function properly.
ReplyDeleteThe Glenstone campus is 230 acres. That's less than 1% of the area.
Why do you keep deleting comments which note that the other 8 Council members also voted to approve the sewer waiver?
ReplyDelete7:50: Not all of the campus is buildable land.
ReplyDelete7:51: They are all guilty of creating a $360 million federal tax shelter. They cannot claim to be true progressives.
Look, I don't argue with you over building materials and Republican initiatives because I don't know much about those things, so I leave that to those that do and can explain it.
ReplyDeleteBut I DO know a lot about taxes and tax-exempt status. And don't understand why you can't either accept the info I give you or for heaven's sake, look it up & see for yourself or ask your accountant. (I'm assuming you or your family has one you trust.)
To categorically dismiss good knowledge so you can call someone a name is just...well, dumb.