States regularly give companies tax breaks in return for creating jobs. But in Ohio, officials gave big tax breaks to 164 companies that took their jobs out of the most depressed inner city areas of Cincinnati and Cleveland and moved them to the affluent suburbs, according top a new report.

The companies left behind 14,500 workers in the hardest hit groups in the jobless economy—the poor, long-term unemployed and people of color. The subsidized relocations also fueled suburban sprawl, especially in the Cleveland region, the report says.

By moving jobs out of the urban areas, the relocations worsened inequalities in wealth and opportunity. Most jobs moved to locations that are inaccessible by public transportation, denying opportunities to workers who do not have cars.

“Paid to Sprawl: Subsidized Job Flight from Cleveland and Cincinnati,” released by Good Jobs First last week, is the largest study of subsidized relocations ever performed in the United States.

“Ohio’s enterprise zone program is so loose it has been perverted,” said Greg LeRoy, the study’s lead author.

It has become pro-sprawl, which is tragic given that it was originally created to revitalize older areas.

To remedy these problems, the study recommends that the state:

• Encourage cooperation and anti-poaching systems among local officials.
• Disclose all economic development deals’ costs and benefits online.
• Make proposed deals ineligible for tax breaks unless they are accessible via public transportation.

Download a copy of the study here.