Nice to see the County Board visiting neighborhoods and talking about Amazon.
Trouble is the County Board is not talking about Amazon's almost complete lack of transparency about the costs and benefits of Amazon's presence in Arlington.
Reality is Amazon and its employees will cost the County more than they will provide in tax revenue. At least 2,500 of 25,000 Amazon employees who will work in Arlington will have at least one child enrolled in Arlington's public schools. At $20,000 per student per year that's another $50 million annually.
Amazon plans to bring and hire 25,000 employees in Arlington over the next decade or about 2,500 / year. County's population growth is about 3,000 per year without Amazon. So the County's total population growth over the next decade will be more than 35,000, assuming 20% of Amazon's employees will live and work in Arlington.
So far Amazon has made no commitment to contribute to public infrastructure, including schools, apart from whatever taxes Amazon will pay (if any).
Arlington County has historically attracted for-profits, non-profits, and upscale residents who are disinterested in philanthropy and there's no reason to suppose Amazon will be any different.
So it seems likely that residential assessments and the real estate tax rate will both increase every year for the next several years, thanks to County Government's decades-long addiction to 'growth for the sake of growth'.
Charles -- 22203
10 comments:
Agree. There is about zero philanthropy in this County. All costs for anything and everything are borne by residents.
Announcement in ArlNow today - Amazon to receive a big tax reduction gimme from Arlington County.
Prediction - Amazon will be a fiscal loser for the County.
How many more surprises aka secret promises by the County and Commonwealth have been made with Amazon?
Any announcement of corporate philanthropy by Amazon in the works, e.g., corporate sponsorship of Longbridge aquatics and athletics?
Latest on ArlNow is Amazon will employ up to 38,000 people in Crystal City and few of Amazon's employees will live in Arlington and few will commute to work via their motor vehicles.
And the average salary of HQ2 employees with be $125,000.
Party begins at 1 PM on March 16th in the County Board Room.
Jeff Bezos will be very generous with his stunning soon-to-be-wife-and-mother of his 4 children.
I think you meant soon-to-be-ex-wife. Yes, she is stunning.
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