Wauwatosa Is Poaching Milwaukee Jobs With Misapplied Federal Tax Credits

The cleverly-tapped but misapplied federal tax credits assisting the Eaton Corp. headquarters move from Milwaukee's depressed 30th St. Industrial corridor to upscale Wauwastosa in a County-created research park has to be seen as Southeastern Wisconsin's jobs-poaching tipping-point.

And it comes on the heels of Wauwatosa's planning with UWM and County government to turn over public land for an engineering school and business innovation center far from UWM's East side Milwaukee campus.

As I have been saying, there is too much official meddling and deal-making pulling jobs and tax base out of land-locked, lower-income, minority-majoruity Milwaukee.

Using federal tax credits aimed at job-creation in low-income areas and using them to move jobs from low-to-high-income areas, based on a census tract quirk - - hat tip to Tom Daykin at the Journal Sentinel - -  should raise some eyebrows in federal justice agencies.

And get a larger discussion going about whether there are any rules or even standards to be applied to  development in the region.  Right now, it seems like jobs follow those with the savviest lawyers, advisers and financiers.

Land use or economic equity" Nowhere to be seen.

These are textbook cases of negative regionalism, inter-governmental hostility and failed economic justice at Milwaukee's expense.