California’s 40 enterprise zones, which award tax credits to businesses for hiring disadvantaged workers, are typically run by public agencies such as cities, counties or joint powers authorities.
But Anaheim has a unique approach.
The city has put the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce in charge of its zone, which includes responsibility for processing tax credits for local businesses worth up to $37,000 per worker.
Giving a business group authority over tax credits sounds like a conflict of interest to good-government expert Tracy Westen.
Anaheim should outsource to a neutral party, said Westen, CEO of the Center for Governmental Studies.