The government of Massachusetts might sour the state's incentives for the mutual fund industry thanks to Fidelity's [see profile] decision to abandon its Marlborough location by moving jobs out of state. Or the state might sweeten fund firms' deals instead. The Boston Globe reports that Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray is willing to consider either cutting back on or amping up the carrots the Bay State offers to mutual fund firms to keep jobs local.

"I think any conversation is a good one as long as it's a two-way conversation," Murray told the Globe. "In the past, the Commonwealth has made concessions in order to grow jobs. But it's got to be a good deal for taxpayers."

Fidelity revealed earlier this week that it plans to shutter its 1,100-employee, 700,000-square-foot Marlborough offices by the end of 2012, shifting the jobs to existing operations in: Boston; Merrimack, New Hampshire; and Smithfield, Rhode Island (see The MFWire, 3/16/2011]. And the state Senate responded by announcing a hearing, scheduled for March 29, on Fidelity's move (see The MFWire, 3/17/2011].

The incentives Murray said he and Governor Deval Patrick would re-examine first came into law in 1996 and gave fund firms permanent permission to calculate state income tax based on state sales alone (without adding in property and payroll, too), in exchange for a commitment to add lots of Massachusetts jobs over five years. 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


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