OpinionsEditorials

Amazon does not need handouts

Early next year, Amazon will unveil the location of its second headquarters in the U.S. Although a time has not been announced, Amazon has promised to invest $5 billion for the new location and employ 50,000 white-collar workers with an annual salary of $100,000.

Currently, Amazon’s Seattle location serves as home base for the e-commerce giant. The new headquarters will serve as an equal to the Seattle location, but along with these promises have come some very extreme proposals from cities nationwide to be home to the HQ2.

The cities with these bids, if chosen, will not be winners in the long run. Not only will the cities themselves suffer, but their citizens as well because of the power these cities are willing to give to Amazon.

Some cities are willing to hand over civic control in order to be chosen. Others are going to rob their citizens and communities of tax dollars that Amazon would get to keep instead of using them to improve local infrastructure such as new roads, updating public transportation and funding for schools.

Amazon has made the process of finding a second home public. They laid out guidelines and parameters for what the winning city should have, including room for a projected 8 million-square-foot building, 45 minutes from an international airport and a population of more than 1 million people.

The deadline to submit bids was Oct. 19, and more than 238 proposals were submitted from 54 states, territories, provinces and districts, according to Amazon.

In the 238 proposals, a handful are unbelievably horrific.

Chula Vista has offered 85 acres of free land to Amazon, which has a value of over $100 million. The city also plans to defer $300 million in property taxes over 30 years, according to citylab.com.

Chicago’s proposal is one of the worst, which would allow Amazon to collect between 50 and 100 percent of income taxes from their employees and put that money right back into their own pockets. There is a state law that allows this to happen. The projected loss in money would be about $1.32 billion, according to the Chicago Reader. That money could be used for more police officers, fixing roads and funding schools, but instead, it will be right back into the pockets of Amazon which does not need any financial help.

The city of Fresno, California has taken things to a new level in their proposal. Fresno would allow Amazon to have a large say in their city’s planning. Of all of the taxes and fees created by Amazon, 15 percent would be used traditionally by the city on the things they see fit but the other 85 percent would be in Amazon’s hands. This is an unbelievable amount of control that the city is giving up to try and secure the winning bid. Amazon would always have the majority vote on city issues, and that is a scary thing to think about for the long-term effects this can have in an area.

Amazon has also been offered essentially free money by New Jersey. The state is offering them $5 billion in tax incentives along with $2 billion in tax abatements. To pay for Amazon’s warehouse is a ridiculous idea, and all of the money that the state will lose in tax incentives could be used for education or bettering infrastructure. Amazon does not need a hand out it can finance any type of project it wants.

Amazon is one of most powerful and valuable companies on the planet. Their owner, Jeff Bezos, is worth more than $100 billion himself.

Cities are pulling out all of the stops because it would bring a lot of jobs and revenue to the winner’s area and state. But offering ridiculous things such as civic control, free land and essentially free warehouse set-up is not needed when they bring in over $130 billion worth of revenue, according to statista.com. Amazon is not hurting for money or power, they already have both.

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Unsigned editorials represent the opinion of the Campus Times Editorial Board.

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