Tax breaks—they're not just for Caterpillar anymore.

The state of Georgia and Athens-Clarke and Oconee counties gave that manufacturer a package of tax breaks and infrastructure worth more than $70 million to build a plant in Bogart. While it's unfortunate, these giveaways are par for the course for industries that employ hundreds and thousands of people, as companies pit state against state to see who'll give them the best deal.

Now, apparently such largesse extends even to more mundane businesses. After offering property tax breaks to the Eastside Publix and the giant new Kroger under construction off Highway 72, the ACC Industrial Development Authority was prepared to grant $30 million in low-interest bonds and millions of dollars' worth of property tax abatements for a new Hyatt Place adjacent to the Classic Center. The tax breaks would have saved the Hyatt (and cost the county) about $2.5 million over a 10-year period.

The agreement—negotiated in secret starting in 2008—came to light last week when the IDA met to vote on it Thursday, June 12. These things are generally done deals by the time they become public, but surprisingly enough, the authority reversed course and did the right thing, failing to approve it by a 3–2 vote. The seven-member board requires four votes for passage, and two members, Mike Morris and Jinx Patel, were absent. For the record, Chairman Gus Burnum, ACC Commissioner Mike Hamby and Jeanne Westbrook voted in favor of the sweetheart deal; Charlie Barron and David Hamilton voted against it.

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