Got questions about the Wisconsin Foxconn deal? We have (some of) the answers

MADISON - After months of work, the multibillion-dollar Foxconn Technology Group deal is almost done at both the state and local level.

But the questions are just beginning about the effort to lure Foxconn to Racine County, where the Taiwanese company is planning to build a massive flat-screen display plant in the village of Mount Pleasant.

Here are answers to some of readers' most frequent questions about the deal.

Q: What hurdles does this project have left?

Answer: On behalf of the state, Gov. Scott Walker has already signed a final up to $3 billion incentive contract with Foxconn. Taxpayers could pay much of that out in cash if the company follows through on promises to invest up to $10 billion in the plant and create up to 13,000 jobs within it.

Mount Pleasant and Racine County must still finalize a contract on up to $764 million in additional local incentives and infrastructure for the company. That is expected to happen soon.

FULL COVERAGE: Foxconn in Wisconsin

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The Village Board is scheduled to discuss the Foxconn deal on Monday and the village's Joint Review Board is scheduled to discuss the financing plan for the project's local incentives on Wednesday.

This first round of challenges will be done soon, but many more await, including private land purchases; a federal environmental review; local road and sewer projects with the potential of forced government purchases of land through eminent domain; and the private construction itself.

Q: What guarantees do state taxpayers have right now?

A: To receive the state payments, Foxconn would essentially have to hire a sharply escalating number of workers, starting with at least 260 next year and rising to at least 5,200 in 2022 and at least 10,400 by 2027.

Foxconn would have to pay a worker at least $30,000 a year to earn the incentives on that hire, with a required average salary for all workers of $53,900 annually. If Foxconn lies to the state, closes the plant or falls below certain jobs minimums, the company could have to repay some of the incentives.

Q: Do these workers have to be state residents?

A: The jobs must be created in Wisconsin but can be filled by anyone. So at least some plant workers might commute from northern Illinois.

Q: Could workers be hired on Dec. 31, fired on Jan. 1 and still be counted in the jobs total? The contract seems to allow this.

A: Such a move would have at most only a limited use for the company. Foxconn might be motivated to hire workers to make sure it hits the minimum jobs thresholds under the deal. But it would get little extra from taxpayers just for hiring a worker for one day. That's because the subsidies are based on what the company pays a worker over the course of an entire year.

Q: Are there additional guarantees for local taxpayers?

A: The local contract with Foxconn is not final. But with that caveat, here are three guarantees to locals: One, a pledge that from 2022 to 2049, Foxconn will pay property taxes as if it has a factory worth at least $1.4 billion no matter what the factory is actually assessed at. Right now, that comes out to just over $31 million a year and the company might still pay more.

Two, a financial cushion of $195 million between the money that the local governments are expected to take in from the deal and their projected costs. Three, state taxpayers have agreed to pay off as much as $199 million of local government debts on the project if the deal tanks.

Q: Is the Foxconn deal the largest public subsidy ever to a private company?

A: No. According to PolitiFact Wisconsin, at least two other companies in the United States have gotten bigger incentive deals — Boeing and Alcoa. The deal does represent, however, the largest subsidy awarded to a foreign company in the United States.

Q: What state environmental standards are being waived and which ones remain?

A: Under the deal, the state Department of Natural Resources would not require Foxconn to prepare an environmental impact statement or seek approval for construction work, in waterways or on some types of wetlands. The state offered these exemptions without Foxconn asking for them, the Journal Sentinel has reported.

But Foxconn must still follow federal environmental rules and obtain the normal state permits for air emissions, releases of wastewater and hazardous waste.

Q: What happens next at the federal level?

A: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers needs to evaluate the impact on wetlands and issue a permit for the project.