Here’s What Philadelphia Offered Amazon in HQ2 Competition

Philadelphia released its Amazon HQ2 proposal on Tuesday. | Photos via iStock.

At long last, city officials on Tuesday night released their now-rejected proposal for Amazon’s second headquarters.

What’s inside? We now know that Philly offered the e-commerce giant up to $1.1 billion in tax incentives over 20 years.

Among other benefits, the city also said it would dedicate a full-time team of staffers to act as “customer-service managers in all dealings with government, regulatory agencies, utilities, labor organizations, and other parties as needed.” That team would have been led by Philadelphia director of commerce Harold T. Epps.

In addition to Philly’s offerings, the state of Pennsylvania also said it would give Amazon up to $4.6 billion in long-term “financial assistance” if the company produced its promised 50,000 jobs and $5 billion in investments. Between Philly and the Commonwealth, the tech giant was looking at a potential $5.7 billion gift if it landed in the city.

https://twitter.com/MaxMMarin/status/1062466104382103554

How does this number compare to other cities and states? To give you an idea, together, New York and Virginia (the winning locations, which will split the headquarters and the total 50,000 jobs) offered Amazon more than $2 billion in tax credits, rebates and other incentives, according to the New York Times. (Some say the location’s combined benefits are actually higher, though.) The publication reports that New York said it would give Amazon $1.525 billion in incentives (and a helipad for good measure), while Virginia promised roughly $573 million.

Tennessee, which will house Amazon’s future East Coast “hub of operations,” offered the company $102 million under the condition that it would create 5,000 new jobs.

Meanwhile, Camden said it would propose new legislation that would give Amazon up to $5 billion in tax credits over a 50-year period. Both Newark and New Jersey offered the company a combined $7 billion in tax incentives. Maryland takes the cake with a total of $8.5 billion in promised incentives, as reported earlier this year.

Here’s what else is worth noting in Philly’s Amazon HQ2 proposal:

• Much of it is still redacted. According to the city, censored parts include third-party offerings, including information regarding the Philadelphia International Airport. Officials said this decision was made to protect partners looking to secure future business opportunities.
• The city said in the proposal that Mayor Jim Kenney and City Council President Darrell Clarke were “committed to introducing and seeking approval of legislation” to establish the $1.1 billion tax incentive plan, were Amazon to choose Philly. The program would have been made possible through the creation of a 20-year Tax Increment Financing District.
• Officials said they would continue to work with Amazon to “shape the total incentives package to best meet the company’s needs,” if necessary.

Here’s the redacted Amazon HQ2 proposal released on Tuesday night.