OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Oklahoma City officials have agreed to spend $1.7 million to help Amazon open a customer order fulfillment center in hopes of creating more jobs.
The Oklahoma City Council voted Tuesday to authorize job-creation incentives for the deal with the online retail giant.
The proposal includes $1 million in public payments to Amazon for more than 50 managerial jobs associated with a new warehouse and shipping terminal at Will Rogers World Airport. The city would provide another $700,000 in road improvements.
The city will pay based on whether Amazon creates the new market jobs, which are expected to grow into a full complement of 1,750 full-time positions with an annual payroll of at least $45 million.
Council members James Greiner Ed Shadid opposed the deal. The councilmen said Amazon’s success is so likely that the city is giving away money to create jobs that would’ve been created anyway.
“Generally, whenever we talk about job incentives, I don’t like any of them,” Greiner said. “I don’t think businesses create jobs because of incentives. I think they create jobs because they need more workers to produce more products and provide more services. And they get the incentives because the incentives are there.”
Shadid opposed Amazon’s efforts to keep details from the public. He also said Amazon would be paid at a rate eight times “our average allocation per job.”
“They are hurting our local small businesses,” Shadid said. “They are hurting employment, and we’re paying them to do it.”
Councilman David Greenwell said he was grateful to the retailer for prompting new business growth nearby, such as bus lines to support Amazon employees.
“I guarantee you … that five years from now, that whole area is going to be substantially more developed than it is now as a result of these new jobs,” Greenwell said.
Mayor David Holt said he was torn on the issue because he opposes incentives but voters repeatedly approved issuing bond debt to fund such economic development.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.