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Auditor claims Commerce Authority’s job creation figures are murky

By: Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services September 24, 2015 , 4:04 pm

"State auditors say the Arizona Commerce Authority needs to report whether information on  jobs, wages, and capital investment is based on commitments companies announce or the actual jobs created and capital investment made . . . but audit manager Dot Reinhard said there’s really no way to tell exactly what the authority has done.

“Its reports generally provide information based on commitments companies announce rather than the actual jobs created or capital investment made,” her report states . . . Overall, the authority claims expansion and relocation projects represent more than $3.3 billion in capital investment.
None of that, however, shows the actual jobs created. . .

Reinhard said Commerce Authority officials told her staffers that it focuses on commitments because they “more promptly and directly measure the authority’s work to add jobs and investment in Arizona.” But she said, though, that’s not an acceptable practice.
“The National State Auditors Association has developed a set of best practices for carrying out state economic development efforts that indicate that an agency should report relevant information to the public summarizing the results of its economic development program,” she wrote. “The authority should clarify in its annual report and other reports it produces whether the information presented on job created, wages, and capital investment represents committed or actual outcomes.”
But the audit report said the lack of accurate numbers is just part of the problem.
What’s also missing, Reinhard said, is a comparison of the financial incentives provided on a company-by-company basis compared to the actual economic outcome produced. She said while some information is available, the reports “lack a consolidated comparison of the incentives given to the benefits received.”
“Without clear information about the state’s return on investment, it may be difficult for decision makers to make informed decisions about Arizona’s economic development activities,” Reinhard said.
A spokeswoman for the authority said Sandra Watson, its president and chief executive, was in meetings on Thursday and could not personally comment. Nor was there a response to a request for data on actual jobs created in the 2014 fiscal year versus the commitments reported.
Watson also said in a statement, “As indicated in the responses provided in the report, the ACA agrees to implement all recommendations made by the Office of the Auditor General, and in many cases has already done so.”
She did not, however, promise to report actual jobs created. Instead she said the authority will make clear whether the figures reported are based on projections or actual activity.
Read more >> http://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2015/09/24/auditor-claims-commerce-authoritys-job-creation-figures-are-murky/#ixzz3n9OFm2Iu