The tax plan that is part of the p...

The tax plan that is part of the parcel bill recently agreed to according to Congress and the White House does not have much promise for cities and counties. Spurring economic progression in a continuously ascending gradation was just not that high a priority.

What there was forward that score was easily not to be found amid the billion-dollar commitments for the reduction in the capital gains rate, the tax credit for working families, estate tax reform and the educational tax credits. They were the headline-makers.

President Clinton's three tax incentives for cities and counties were "small print" kinds of things. The proposals did not contain any new thinking; they simply expand forward current programs that have been something short of barn-burners.

The three provisions included expanding the number of empowerment belts and enterprise communities (the areas within poor sections of cities and towns that qualify for federal tax incentives); allowing companies that cause to grow brownfields ...