Lee Ann Watters, CPA will discuss some of the distinguishing features of tax abatements, and how they are used by local governments to encourage economic development. She will then examine how GASB Statement 77 requires governments that enter into tax abatement agreements to disclose a deeper level of detail in terms of major programs and aggregation. Lee Ann will close the segment with a discussion of how GASB Statement 77 seeks to provide governmental financial statement users the ability to quantify and compare the revenue losses caused by economic development tax breaks, in an effort to evaluate the effectiveness of such programs.