News Release

Amazon Deal Taxpayer Costs “Far Understated, Exceed $4.6 Billion”

Share

GREG LeROY, goodjobs at goodjobsfirst.org, @goodjobsfirst
Also available in New York: Maritza Silva-Farrell, maritza at alignny.org
And in northern Virginia: Roshan Abraham, roshanja at protonmail.com
LeRoy is executive director of Good Jobs First, which examines economic subsidies. They just released a statement: “The taxpayer costs of these two deals is high, both in absolute terms and on a per job basis, contrary to Amazon’s artful spin. Together, we believe they exceed $4.6 billion and the cost per job in New York is at least $112,000, not the $48,000 the company used in a selective and incomplete press release calculation.

“Amazon’s statement contains a classic example of cost-benefit apples and oranges. Citing only one New York state incentive, it says the sum ‘equates to $48,000 per job for 25,000 jobs with an average wage of over $150,000…’ Of course, wages cannot be compared to tax breaks since employees pay only a small percentage of their salaries as taxes to offset the tax breaks. And the cost per job in New York is actually at least $112,000 but that is not a full accounting. …

“Similarly, the Amazon press release omits an entire new campus close to its Arlington site, announced today by Virginia Tech University. It will cost $1 billion and ‘was part of the higher education package affiliated with the proposal that led to the selection of Crystal City in Northern Virginia as one of the two new Amazon headquarters locations,’ according to a Virginia Tech press release.”

See Good Jobs First’s Amazon resources at: goodjobsfirst.org/amazon.