“Apple is close to announcing a deal that would bring as many as 10,000 jobs to North Carolina, including a major investment in the Research Triangle Park, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the deal,” Travis Fain and Rick Smith report for WRAL. “The investment would be between $1.5 billion and $2 billion, and the jobs would pay on average around $130,000 a year. Many of the jobs would be high-tech research and development jobs. One government source said this is ‘by far the biggest project this state’s ever seen as far as average salaries, number of jobs.'”
“Republican legislators planned to meet Wednesday afternoon to hear details of a state incentives package that would allow Apple to hold onto a portion of the taxes generated by the project,” Fain and Smith report. “‘It’s a done deal,’ one source said, ‘as soon as we pass this bill,'” Fain and Smith report. “Another source hedged, saying something can always come up to derail the deal, particularly until the General Assembly and Gov. Roy Cooper formally sign off on the incentives package. A formal announcement had been scheduled for early June, but that is subject to change due in part to media reports about the negotiations, one source said.”
MacDailyNews Take: An announcement at WWDC 2018 seems to have been the plan – and may still be.
“WRAL News has seen an incentive schedule that initially grants Apple about 56 percent of the employer’s share of withholding taxes that the company would generate in North Carolina for the first six years of the deal. That grows to 90 percent as the total jobs grow after the first six years. Withholding money also would flow into a state account intended to boost rural development,” Fain and Smith report. “At first that would be nearly 19 percent of the withholding amounts, falling to 10 percent. A source involved in the deal put the floor for new jobs at 3,000, but multiple sources said the expectation is between 5,000 and 10,000 jobs long-term… There’s no upfront grant money from the state in the proposed incentives package, the two government sources said. The agreement also includes 30 years of property tax abatements from Wake County, the sources said.”
Apple would initially land in or near Cary, leasing space off Weston Parkway for roughly 1,000 employees, four sources said. The company would build up and transition to 300 acres in the southernmost portion of RTP, all on the Wake County side, government sources said,” Fain and Smith report. “In addition to the initial landing Cary and development in RTP, the company also plans to invest in new infrastructure, likely near Hickory in Catawba County, where it already has a data center. A source who has seen a portion of a presentation made about the Apple project said about $900 million would be spent to build the new data center. Last December, media reports said Apple planned to invest an additional $1 billion in the sprawling Catawba County campus, where it has already invested $4 billion since 2009.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: North Carolina legislators would be smart to do whatever it takes to land Apple.
The benefits of having a large corporation in your country or state go far, far beyond corporate taxes or even a total lack thereof. Those employees, who would not exist in your state otherwise, pay taxes – income, energy, property, etc., etc., etc. – and buy everything from food to furniture to vehicles in the local economy (each one of those purchases very likely taxed as well). Those who whine about corporate taxes [and/or tax incentives] cannot see the forest for the trees. — MacDailyNews, July 9, 2013
It also doesn’t hurt NC’s cause that Tim Cook got his MBA at Duke.
Good luck, NC!
SEE ALSO:
Apple quietly explores Northern Virginia for 20,000-employee campus – May 16, 2018
Apple to build new U.S. campus, pay record $38 billion repatriation tax – January 18, 2018
Apple gives employees $2,500 bonuses after President Trump signed the GOP’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act – January 17, 2018
Looks like Apple is bringing nearly all of its $250 billion foreign cash back home to America – January 17, 2018
Apple plans to add $350 billion to U.S. economy and create over 20,000 new jobs over next 5 years, pay $38 billion in repatriated taxes, the largest ever made – January 17, 2018
North Carolina lawmakers OK tax incentives for Apple Inc. – May 27, 2009
North Carolina lawmakers push to give Apple massive tax break for $1 billion server farm investment – May 23, 2009
Great news from North Carolina where the government is more proactive, unlike the Irish govt who kept Apple dangling in the air for 3+ Years. 😡
I work in RTP. Come on Apple!
MDN, the reasoning in your Take is deceptive and skewed towards the far right storyline. Allow me to add some nuance to an issue that is far more complicated than your label and disparage approach.
First, we should be concerned with the total amount of tax revenue as well as the sources of those tax revenue. The total amount matters because tax revenues must equal expenditures to avoid deficit spending.
Second, these corporations can have a major impact on utility infrastructure – roads, bridges, power lines, water, sewer, drainage, etc. Sure, the increased taxes on employees will help. But the initial impacts come first and the additional employee tax/fee revenues come later.
Third, the corporations often fail to meet the job creation figures that are initially quoted, and corporations may leave as soon as the tax abatements end. They suck on the state/locality while the living is cheap, then leave for another state.
Fourth, if you reduce taxes on corporations, then a larger percentage of taxes must come from other sources – primarily individuals. That is fine as long as employee compensation increases to reflect the additional tax burden. But we all know that it has not.
Fifth, why should Apple or Google or other major corporation get a sweetheart deal when the companies – small, medium, and large – that have been in the state/locality for decades providing jobs and contributing to the community get nothing? I thought the GOP decried picking winners and losers? Instead, I suppose they just want to be the ones doing the picking…
Sixth, the state and local governments entering into these tax abatement and incentive deals are notoriously bad at negotiating them. They give away everything but the kitchen sink bidding against other states/localities, only to later find out that they screwed themselves for decades to come.
Businesses want long term stability. Enact reasonable tax laws and regulations, maintain your infrastructure, support education to develop a diverse and educated workforce, and promote quality of life, and you will attract companies for the long term. Stable companies for a stable community.
I don’t care which party is negotiating this deal. A company of this size and wealth should not get one penny of tax breaks. That’s incentive for them to stay and not leave when the breaks expire …
Wrong.
Apple has become Catawba County’s top taxpayer, with an assessed value of $1.1 billion, nearly 42 percent higher than the No. 2 firm: Duke Energy Carolinas. Last year, Apple paid $6.2 million in county taxes. “As a result of Apple’s being there that every citizen in Maiden has been impacted in a positive manner and they may not even realize that,” Scott Millar, president of the Catawba County Economic Development Commission, says.
Officials have actually lowered taxes. At the same time, investments in services have gone up. Local coffers, boosted by Apple tax bills, have funded park expansions, street paving projects and even a new fire station. The town has even started providing free public Wi-Fi. ‘Our budget basically doubled,’ says town manager Todd Herms.
How Apple transformed a North Carolina town
Good story and working in the town’s favor. My point was tax incentives in some areas don’t always work out this well …
Why would Apple want to establish a campus/HQ in a bigoted Southern state? Let’s hope the board of directors has more sense than that.