Incentives

With gas prices continuing a steady upward climb, you may be headed to the dealer in search of something less thirsty at the pump. But which cars' sticker price gives you the most bang for your buck? We asked Edmunds.com to look at the vehicles with the lowest sticker price per fuel-economy rating. The math was simple: divide the car's base price by its EPA rating for combined fuel economy. The result gives a look at how much each mile per gallon will cost you. Photos: Top 10 cars with lowest cost per mpg Topping the list is Ford's C-Max Energi.

SACRAMENTO - A battle is raging over a California program that grants businesses tax breaks for creating jobs but prevents the public from knowing who got them and why. At issue are enterprise zones, which were established to boost employment in disadvantaged urban neighborhoods and rural areas. California is home to 40 of these special districts, in which about 35,000 companies have qualified for tax credits. Last year they reaped an estimated $700 million in credits - a figure that state tax officials project will grow to $1 billion by 2016.

What would it take to get you into an electric car today? Forced by state regulators to sell more zero-emission vehicles, automakers are tripping over each other to offer consumers rock-bottom lease deals. For the first time, electric vehicles are penciling out cheaper than their gas-powered counterparts. Honda joined the price war this week by dropping the lease on its Fit EV from $389 to $259 a month. It threw in collision and vehicle theft coverage, maintenance, roadside assistance - even a charging station at your house.

Minnesota has a new Snowbate to entice film and TV productions. The state's new Film Production Jobs Program, known as Snowbate, has been voted into law. Minnesota lawmakers recently agreed to increase annual funding for the rebate program to $10 million from $500,000 starting July 1.  Film producers also will now be eligible to receive a rebate of up to 25% for work done in the state, which is competing with dozens of other states that offer...

Auto leasing deals abound these days, with offers that often seem too good to be true. How about a well-equipped Honda Accord for $250 a month with no down payment or any other drive-off fees? Or better yet, $199 a month for a Chevrolet Malibu? So, what's the catch? There isn't any if you know what you're getting into. There are always details. You need top-tier credit to qualify. You pay a penalty if you turn that Honda in with more than 36,000 miles. And the payment is not $250 a month because of that little matter of tax. It is more like $275, depending on where you live.

SACRAMENTO - A battle is raging over a California program that grants businesses tax breaks for creating jobs but prevents the public from knowing who got them and why. At issue are enterprise zones, which were established to boost employment in disadvantaged urban neighborhoods and rural areas. California is home to 40 of these special districts, in which about 35,000 companies have qualified for tax credits. Last year they reaped an estimated $700 million in credits - a figure that state tax officials project will grow to $1 billion by 2016.

For many Orange County executives, 1991 was a year when their pay packages came under greater shareholder scrutiny and corporate boards were cautious in handing out cash bonuses and perks. It mirrored a trend statewide of keeping executive compensation in line with a company's financial performance. Of the top 100 county executives on the list of publicly traded companies, one-third of the officers saw their cash compensation remain unchanged or had it reduced.

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday made it easier for developers of housing for the homeless to get access to millions of dollars in city funds when they agree to include public storage, toilets and laundry facilities for people who remain on the streets. The policy passed unanimously after council members rejected a proposal  by Councilwoman Jan Perry that would have stripped out some of the incentives for housing intended to serve those who have been chronically homeless.

Although I agree with making sure applicants are qualified to teach (editorial, April 17), it needs to be pointed out that some very qualified applicants are being turned away by the unrealistic financial burden that it takes to become a credentialed teacher. As a seventh-year teacher I am mentoring my friend, a single mother of four, as she attempts to become an elementary teacher. She has put herself through school for many years, scraping by on loans and scholarships. Now, as she nears the finish line, she appears to be hitting quicksand.

March is turning out to be a torrid month for auto sales. Several projections place the annual sales rate at 12 million to 13 million, which would be 20% to 30% above the pace of the first two months of the year. Retail sales have taken off, in part because of the steep sales incentives Toyota Motor Corp. is using to regain market share that it lost over its recent large recalls and the subsequent drop in people's perceptions of its vehicles' quality. Better credit availability and improved weather this month also are helping sales, analysts said.

Los Angeles airport commissioners took additional steps Tuesday to halt a dramatic decline in passengers at LA/Ontario International Airport, including potential cost reductions for airlines and incentives that might encourage them to add service. Inland Empire officials, who are trying to wrest control of Ontario from Los Angeles, immediately criticized the measures, saying that they were too little and too late to lure flights back to what used to be one of the fastest-growing regional airports in the nation.

Hollywood North is going south. That's the fear among many in the once-booming production community in Vancouver, Canada. Although Vancouver still attracts high-profile movies and television shows, including A&E's recently launched "Bates Motel," the city is rapidly losing its perch as one of the industry's busiest production hubs as it faces rising competition from cities in eastern Canada and south of the border. The city that pioneered the use of film incentives now finds itself struggling to compete with emerging rivals offering stronger tax credits and rebates.

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday made it easier for developers of housing for the homeless to get access to millions of dollars in city funds when they agree to include public storage, toilets and laundry facilities for people who remain on the streets. The policy passed unanimously after council members rejected a proposal  by Councilwoman Jan Perry that would have stripped out some of the incentives for housing intended to serve those who have been chronically homeless.

Last week, 35 public school teachers and administrators indicted for allegedly cheating to raise test scores in an Atlanta school district began turning themselves in to authorities. They may be the tip of the iceberg; a state investigation implicates 178 educators in the scandal. Were these teachers and principals all "bad apples," intrinsically unethical individuals who somehow ended up in the same school district? Not likely. They were ordinary people who allegedly did unethical and dishonest things to achieve the student performance targets needed to keep their jobs and earn their bonuses.

Other states have long poached California manufacturers and jobs. Now they're coming for the cows. Seizing on the plight of the state's dairy industry, which is beset by high feed costs and low milk prices, nearly a dozen states are courting Golden State dairy farmers. The pitch: cheaper farm land, lower taxes, fewer environmental regulations and higher prices for their milk. At the World Ag Expo, a behemoth trade show held in Tulare County last month, nine states had recruitment booths on the ground's Dairy Center.

— The Angels' trade of Vernon Wells to the New York Yankees, which is expected to be finalized Tuesday, will have financial implications beyond the $13 million or so the Angels will save over the next two years by shipping the veteran outfielder to the Bronx. A major incentive for dealing Wells, according to a person familiar with the team's thinking but not authorized to speak publicly, is to give the Angels enough financial relief to finish the season under the $178-million luxury tax threshold.

I want to thank The Times for its persistence in obtaining the details of the obscene perks granted to our elected county officials and the quiet manner that our Board of Supervisors approved its "benefit" package. These are the same supervisors that have bemoaned the state budget cuts and their impact on county services. The longevity incentive should be eliminated, especially for elected officials: If the federal government paid such incentives to Congress, the national debt would be twice what it is. The current grand jury should review the number of "days off" the elected officials and CAO Richard Wittenberg have used this year and last year and compare that to seven weeks of "in lieu of vacation pay."

General Motors Corp. is offering early-retirement incentives to U.S. salaried workers as it cuts an unspecified number of jobs to reduce costs and improve efficiency. The world's largest auto maker set no target for how many workers it hopes will accept the offer. The Detroit News reported that 1,000 jobs would be cut. GM declined to confirm or deny that report.

Reforming the healthcare system is largely about fixing the incentives it provides for doctors, hospitals and patients to overspend. For example, the "fee for service" payment model that Medicare relies on encourages physicians to do as many things for a patient as they can bill for -- the more services provided, the higher the compensation. That's a model that profits from sickness, not health. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) made a similar point in his latest budget proposal about Medicaid, the health insurance program for the poor that's jointly funded by federal and state governments.

New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez says she now backs a program to expand the state's film tax credit. Martinez recently vetoed a bill that would increase the state's film credit to 30% for TV series shooting at least six episodes in New Mexico, saying she questioned the logic of an "unlimited subsidy to a single industry. " But Martinez changed her tune over the weekend. At a news conference on Saturday in Santa Fe, she said she would, in fact, support the improved incentive as part of a large package of tax reforms approved by state lawmakers, including a proposed reduction in corporate tax rates.