Memo Highlights Best Practices for States Planning Tax Incentive Evaluations: An expert shares lessons learned managing the process in Indiana

The report describes how tax incentive evaluation teams in the states can develop an evaluation plan and discusses the logistical concerns of the process, including how to maximize staff resources and expertise, time evaluations to leverage complementary work, and gather the information necessary to conduct evaluations. The report discusses the substantive components of incentive evaluations, focusing on the development of a framework of questions that help determine an incentive’s history, usage, efficiency, and economic impacts. The framework helps guide how evaluators examine the structure and administration of incentives, and helps them decide the appropriate methodologies, data sources, and scope for an evaluation.