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Facts You Should Know: (word doc)

PROPERTY VALUES

• Wal-Mart leads to the closure of surrounding businesses and the property values on those commercial strips decrease as more and more establishments remain vacant and boarded up. It has been shown that when a Wal-Mart is built close to a residential neighborhood, the property values of those homes are likely to decrease in value because Wal-Mart regularly challenges the assessed property values of its stores in order to keep its own taxes as low as possible. ^[1]
• In one neighborhood property values dropped 28% within the first 4 years after a new Wal-Mart opened. ^[2]
• Wal-Mart files for property tax assessment reductions at 36.3% of its locations. Wal-Mart's success rate in reducing property taxes is 49.8%^[3]. This can result in a diminution in value of surrounding property.
• California is the 4th highest state where Wal-Mart seeks property tax abatements seeking to cut value by 60%.^[4]
• Wal-Mart has filed 12 property reduction appeals in Oceanside (the most of any of its locations) ^[5]
• Wal-Mart has received in excess of $1.2 Billion in state and local government incentives. "These take various forms, but some of the most significant are property tax abatements and tax-increment financing (which diverts property taxes), both of which decrease the revenue available to local government to pay for education and services."^[6]

CRIME & TRAFFIC

• Big box stores draw large populations from outside a neighborhood (they are unable to turn a profit from local shoppers alone)^[7]. What will Wal-Mart have to do to remain profitable with 3 additional stores in a 5 mile radius?
• In addition to being a magnet for shoppers, Wal-Mart and other big boxes also attract numerous shoplifters and other criminals. When a Wal-Mart is built, the crime rate goes up due to increased shoplifting prosecutions and the higher likelihood of other, more serious crimes. ^[8]
• A 2004 study of Wal-Mart stores in the San Francisco Bay area concluded that there would be up to an additional 238 million vehicle miles traveled per year with introduction of a new store.^[9]

COST TO COMMUNITY

• The influx of big-box stores into San Diego would result in an annual decline in wages and benefits which could cost the area up to $221 million according to a 2003 estimate.^[10]
• When an employer pays low wages to its employees, the employees have less money to spend on goods and services in the community, which in turn reduces the income and spending of others in the community. In other words a reduction in wages has a multiplier impact in the surrounding area.^[11]

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

• In May 2004, Wal-Mart agreed to pay the largest settlement for storm-water violations in EPA history. The United States sued Wal-Mart for violating the Clean Water Act in 9 states, calling for penalties of over $3.1 million and changes to Wal-Mart's building practices.^[12]
• In 2005, Wal-Mart reached a $1.15 million settlement with the State of Connecticut for allowing improperly stored pesticides and other pollutants to pollute streams. This was the largest such settlement in state history.^[13]
• In Georgia, Wal-Mart was fined about $150,000 in 2004 for water contamination.^[14]

TAX DOLLARS

• The estimated total amount of federal assistance for which Wal-Mart employees were eligible in 2004 was $2.5 billion.^[15]
• One 200-employee Wal-Mart store may cost federal taxpayers $420,750 per year.^[16]

EMPLOYMENT

• A Wal-Mart store reduces earnings by 5% per person. This 2005 study by an economist from the National Bureau of Economic Research used Wal-Mart's own store data and government data for all counties where Wal-Mart has operated for 30 years.^[17]
• A new Wal-Mart increases demand for police, fire and waste management services.^[18]
• An internal Wal-Mart audit found "extensive violations of child-labor laws and state regulations requiring time for breaks and meals."^[19]
• Wal-Mart supports undocumented workers. In 2003, federal authorities arrested 250 undocumented immigrants who were employed by janitor contracting services and hired by Wal-Mart in 21 states. Many of the janitors worked seven days or nights a week without overtime pay or injury compensation. Those who worked nights were often locked in the store until the morning.^[20]
• Wal-Mart instituted a "lock-in" policy at some of its Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores. The stores lock their doors at night so that no one can enter or leave the building, leaving workers inside trapped. Some workers reported that managers had threatened to fire them if they ever used the fire exit to leave the building. Instead, they were supposed to wait for a manager to unlock doors to allow employees to escape in an emergency.^[21]
• For every 100 new jobs created by a new Wal-Mart, 50 retail jobs and 20 wholesale jobs at competing establishments are lost.^[22]
• In 2001, six women sued Wal-Mart in California claiming the company discriminated against women by systematically denying them promotions and paying them less than men. The lawsuit, Dukes v. Wal-Mart, has expanded to include more than 1.6 million current and former female employees, and was certified on June 21 2004 as the largest class action lawsuit ever.^[23]

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^1.http://momandpopnyc.blogspot.com/2005/05/conservative-case-against-wal-mart-in.html accessed 1.18.08.
^2. http://walmartwatch.com/img/documents/battlemart_docs/WhatHappensWhenWalMartComesToTown.pdf accessed 1.18.08
^3. Rolling Back Property Tax Payments: How Wal-Mart Short-Changes Schools and other Public Services by Challenging Its Property Tax Assessments. Philip Mattera, Karla Walter, Julie Farb Blain and Colleen Ruddick. October 2007. http://walmartwatch.com/img/blog/rolling_back_property_tax_payments.pdf accessed 1.18.08.
^4. Id.
^5. Id.
^6. Id.
^7. http://momandpopnyc.blogspot.com/2005/05/conservative-case-against-wal-mart-in.html accessed 1.18.08.
^8. Id.
^9. Supercenters and the Transformation of the Bay Area Grocery Industry: Issues, Trends, and Impacts. Bay Area Economic Forum, 2004; http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/facts/#community accessed 1.18.08
^10. San Diego Taxpayers Association (SDCTA), 2003; http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/news/20050810-ss.html accessed 1.18.08
^11. http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/news/20050810-ss.html accessed 1.18.08 [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, May 12, 2004, U.S. v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., 2004 WL 2370700];
^12. http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/news/20050810-ss.html accessed 1.18.08
^13. Hartford Courant, 8/16/05; http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/news/20050810-ss.html accessed 1.18.08
^14. [Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 2/10/05]; http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/news/20050810-ss.html accessed 1.18.08
^15. The Hidden Price We All Pay For Wal-Mart, A Report By The Democratic Staff Of The Committee On Education And The Workforce, 2/16/04; http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/news/20050810-ss.html accessed 1.18.08
^16. http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/facts/#community accessed 1.18.08
^17. David Neumark, The Effects of Wal-Mart on Local Labor Markets 2005; http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/facts/#community accessed 1.18.08
^18. Id.
^19. New York Times, 1/13/04; http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/facts/#community accessed 1.18.08
^20. Wall Street Journal, 11/5/05, CNN Money, "Wal-Mart pays $11m over illegal labor", 2005; http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/facts/#community accessed 1.18.08
^21. New York Times 1/18/2004; http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/facts/#community accessed 1.18.08
^22. NC State Economist Nov-Dec 2005. http://www.ag-econ.ncsu.edu/VIRTUAL_LIBRARY/ECONOMIST/novdec05.pdf accessed 1.18.08.
^23. Mondaq Business Briefing, November 1, 2004; http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/facts/#community accessed 1.18.08
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