Shopping at Wal-Mart isn't so cheap
Brian P. Blair
Sunday, August 13, 2006 12:04 AM PDT
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E-mail this articleWhile some may feel the addition of the proposed Wal-Mart to Woodland would be a boon for the town, studies of other Wal-Mart locations prove otherwise.
The Democratic Staff of the Committee on Education and the Workforce estimates that one 200-person Wal-Mart store may result in a cost to taxpayers of $420,750 per year -- about $2,103 per employee in public assistance, including Section 8 housing vouchers, reduced-cost lunches for dependent children, health care programs, and tax credits for the working poor. Because Wal-Mart refuses to pay a living wage, you pay the difference with your taxes.
One study identifies 244 Wal-Mart stores and distribution centers in 35 states that have received state and local development subsidies totaling just over $1 billion. More of your tax money going for corporate welfare.
Another study of one small town found that big box retail generates a net annual deficit to the city of minus $468 per 1,000 square feet, a $76,310 net loss to the city for a store the size of the proposed Wal-Mart, while specialty retail (locally owned) produces a net annual return of plus $326 per 1,000 square feet.
An Iowa study found that 84 percent of all sales at the new Wal-Mart stores came at the expense of existing businesses within the same county. Only 16 percent of sales came from outside the county, refuting the notion that Wal-Mart can act as a magnet drawing customers from a wide area and benefiting other businesses in town.
There are many other studies (some are nicely summarized at www.newrules.org/retail/walmartstudies.html), but most come to the same conclusion: Between the loss of jobs, loss of small businesses, tax incentives and giveaways and poverty-level wages, a Wal-Mart represents a huge financial loss for the community. The meager savings you see on price tags of cherry-picked items at Wal-Mart don't reflect the costs to you in eventual higher taxes, lost jobs, lower wages in the area and lower property values.
Other issues to consider at length are traffic, crime, flooding, runoff, light, air and water pollution, wetlands mitigation, proximity to the new High School, devaluation of our industrial base and the destruction of downtown.
Albert Einstein once gave the definition of insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. There is enough evidence of what has happened to other small towns that let Wal-Mart in. Let's not do anything insane. A Wal-Mart would be devastating to Woodland. Tell the mayor.
Brian P. Blair resides in Woodland.
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