Hagerstown, Salisbury enterprise zones fuel growth. Will door close on incentive?

In the last week before Gov. Larry Hogan left office, the Department of Commerce announced expanded enterprise zones in both Hagerstown and Salisbury. Now, the business development program, which started in 1982 to provide tax incentives to companies locating in the state’s most economically distressed communities, has come under scrutiny. “The enterprise zone program is one of the most expensive business tax credits in our state,” said Delegate Julie Palakovich Carr, sponsor of a bill to alter the program, during a House Ways and Means Committee hearing Thursday in Annapolis. “It’s not working as intended.”