Eye On Illinois: Can never have too much evidence Rivian incentives are a good investment

The Chicago Bears have won 44% of their games since the 2009 season, going 1-3 in playoff contests during that span.

Rivian Automotive, founded in June 2009, posted $4.43 billion in revenue in 2023. It’s put more than 100,000 electric vehicles on the road in the last three-plus years. An initial public offering in 2021 raised $13.5 billion.

It’s not exactly logical to compare a car company to a football team, except both have been poking around Springfield looking for money. Only one succeeded.

On Thursday, Gov. JB Pritzker announced $827 million in state incentives he said secured Rivian’s decision to build a midsize SUV in Illinois instead of Georgia. The claimed return on investment – largely state tax credits over 30 years – is $1.5 billion in physical infrastructure and more than 550 assembly line jobs by the end of the decade.

The Bears are seeking at least $1.2 billion in public help to build a new stadium near the one the public rebuilt not 25 years ago. Football is more popular than electric vehicles, and the Bears’ annual payroll clears $250 million (factoring in non-player income), but it’s impossible to find a reputable economist who says stadium subsidies are a wise use of public money.

Rivian claims it’s already spent more than $2 billion in the Bloomington-Normal region and “generated a value add” exceeding $3.9 billion. As I wrote when lawmakers passed significant electric vehicle incentives in October 2021, scrutiny of the state’s investment is vital.

The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity maintains a dedicated Reimagining Energy and Vehicles in Illinois website, dceo.illinois.gov/businesshelp/rev.html, and must make annual reports (the most recent is at tinyurl.com/REVfy22). I’d love a tracker showing progress on Rivian’s contractual obligation to retain 6,000 jobs over 30 years.

People love their football, but automakers can be real economic engines. Still: proof and reassurance cannot be overdone.

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER: Our property tax bill arrived last week, including an insert with a pie chart – literally a picture of pepperoni pizza – and a loose breakdown: 70% of my taxes will go to schools, 9% to municipalities, 7% to the county and so on. The visual aid is nice, but I prefer the table of 17 taxing bodies showing the current rate and amount as well as a dollar change from the prior year.

The K-8 and high school district account for almost 89% of the cumulative increase – community college adds just 1.3% – and the overall bill is buoyed by decreases in a few pension funds and the forest preserve district. All counties have different approaches to printed documents and online information, but I’m curious to hear from readers who have feedback on the way treasurers parse data statewide.

• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Local News Network. Follow him on X @sth749. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.