Foxconn project in peril?

Should local economic development incentives result in cash grants paid to private developers or companies?

That’s the question raised in a lawsuit now at the state Supreme Court related to an Eau Claire economic development project.

The Wisconsin Institute of Law and Liberty is challenging a portion of Wisconsin’s tax incremental financing law charging that such payments are an illegal property tax rebate and do not comply with Wisconsin’s uniformity clause, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.

If the court agrees, it could invalidate a signature piece of the state’s TIF laws that have been on the books and in practice since first enacted in 1975 and have a far-reaching affect on economic development projects around the state, including the recently approved $10 billion Foxconn project in Racine County.