Members of Nashville’s Metro Council expressed reservations about an incentive package for Amazon on Tuesday night, but after an hour of discussion, the council easily approved a grant worth up to $17.5 million.
The lopsided vote was 30 in favor and just three against.
The exact cost to Metro will depend on when Amazon begins collecting its grant — likely not before 2021 — and on the company proving that it has created the 5,000 jobs it has promised for a pair of downtown office towers.
While the favorable vote was never in doubt, the tenor of the night showed that council members knew they were being watched by Amazon critics, including labor groups that have peppered officials with questions and concerns.
Yet even Councilman John Cooper, a constant critic of corporate incentives who often votes against them, said the math this time benefits Nashville and seals the deal on a project of worldwide interest.
“This is the one that the city has been saying that it wanted,” Cooper said. “We caught the dog, so to speak, or the dog caught us.”
Cooper did attach two caveats: One, that going forward Metro should refrain from giving any incentives unless they can reach Amazon-like proportions. And, two, he wants to ask the cash-rich Convention Center Authority to make the payment to Amazon out of its surplus (
read background here).
If 5,000 jobs are created, Metro could pay Amazon $2.5 million per year for 7 years.
By comparison, the mayor’s administration told the council that Amazon should be generating up to four times that amount in tax revenue for the city — $5 million annually in property taxes, plus $4 to $5 million in sales taxes — in addition to infusing some $750 million into the local economy through yearly employee salaries.
Those figures were requested by council members as they deliberated. Councilman Colby Sledge also told his peers about correspondence with Amazon in which the company committed in writing to follow through with payments recently announced for Nashville-area nonprofits .
Councilwoman Tanaka Vercher also addressed critics.
“Have confidence in this body. You have to know that behind the scenes we do ask the tough questions. There is a lot of deliberation,” Vercher said.
Some council members said they worry Amazon will adversely effect local infrastructure and drive up housing prices.
And many questions came from Councilwoman Kathleen Murphy, who tried unsuccessfully to postpone the vote until July. She said the council shouldn’t pass the deal before the annual city budget is complete, noting Amazon is already receiving incentives from the state. Murphy has questions about Amazon’s promised salaries, and suggested that Metro could use the money for direct grants to nonprofits instead of to the tech giant.
Murphy still voted in favor.
In the end, Councilwoman Angie Henderson was one of the few “no” votes. And she convinced the council to cap the grant at 5,000 jobs.
“We’re not saying we don’t want more jobs with Amazon — we would welcome those — but that we’re not going to incentivize them,” she said.
Council members Jeff Syracuse and Mike Freeman also voted against the deal. Five other members did not take part.
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