Tax Abatement Disclosures in 2018: 100 Largest US Counties

Updated: 1/6/2020 (fixed three errors)

Statement No. 77 on Tax Abatement Disclosures (GASB 77) set forth by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) requires compliant public budgets to report how much revenue the government body loses yearly to economic development tax abatement programs. Good Jobs First tracks these disclosures as part of its mission to promote transparency and accountability.

The total amount of foregone tax revenue for the 56 out of the 100 largest U.S. counties that reported in 2018 is at least $600 million . In contrast to the largest cities, many county governments reported passive revenue losses to agreements entered into by municipal entities. Counties without governments and county-level cities are excluded from this list; combined city and county governments are included.

Download the excel spreadsheet of program details for 100 largest counties (xlsx, 47 KB)