Gorodenkoff/Adobe Stock Photo
Gorodenkoff/Adobe Stock Photo
Amazon received $43 million in subsidies, tax breaks, and grants from Florida communities for 13 projects.
Advocacy group Good Jobs First, which opposes such subsidies, found Florida provided the 21st-highest amount of grants and breaks among U.S. states to the nearly $1-trillion company.
Florida is ranked behind New Jersey (3 projects/$45 million) and ahead of Connecticut (3 projects/$38 million), North Carolina (5 projects/$31 million), and Pennsylvania (4 projects/$30 million).
The most expensive subsidy provided in Florida was by the Jacksonville government, which offered $19 million to Amazon in city and state subsidies. There is a $300,000 discrepancy between city and state documents about the amount provided.
The second largest subsidy was worth $7 million in tax refunds and an infrastructure grant from Opa-Locka.
There were no developments which received undisclosed subsidy amounts.
Florida has eliminated many subsidy programs after negative criticism from advocates and audits, yet still grants massive Disney tax breaks, including a $570 million tax break in 2021.
There are also some major problems concerning transparency, such as deals made by economic development agencies considered confidential for two years.
Amazon has pulled out of several projects in Florida in 2022.
In June, Amazon shuttered a planned 250,000 square ft. warehouse in Coral Springs which would have reportedly provided 200 full-time jobs. The retail giant also decided not to lease space in an area facility or go ahead with plans to build two other facilities.
"The consumer is not consuming as much," a broker to the local government. "Therefore, they don't have as much (need) to open these other locations."
A planned warehouse in Ft. Myers that was to be built by Amazon on 331 acres of land, where up to 2,000 people would be employed, is also not going ahead. A legal battle was reportedly planned by a neighboring apartment complex.
Three facilities in Cocoa, Miramar, and Riviera Beach, to be built in Florida are currently on hold, according to the International Business Times.
As of Nov. 17, 2022, Amazon had received 310 separate tax break deals from local and state governments across the U.S., totaling $5.14 billion. The state of Virginia was home to the largest portion of these taxpayer-subsidized Amazon projects.
| State | # Projects | Total Subsidy |
|---|---|---|
| Virginia | 20 | $824,291,799 |
| Illinois | 16 | $732,973,199 |
| New York | 22 | $671,446,986 |
| Washington | 10 | $608,644,670 |
| Oregon | 32 | $483,459,645 |
| Texas | 13 | $305,959,751 |
| Ohio | 14 | $172,418,555 |
| Tennessee | 20 | $166,030,438 |
| Kentucky | 21 | $111,789,976 |
| Missouri | 2 | $110,600,000 |
| Massachusetts | 5 | $86,979,275 |
| California | 12 | $84,541,000 |
| Michigan | 5 | $82,352,146 |
| Maryland | 3 | $68,425,000 |
| South Carolina | 5 | $64,297,962 |
| Indiana | 15 | $60,389,500 |
| Alabama | 2 | $56,500,000 |
| Wisconsin | 6 | $54,135,500 |
| Louisiana | 7 | $48,967,587 |
| New Jersey | 3 | $45,422,240 |
| Florida | 13 | $43,239,475 |
| Connecticut | 3 | $37,700,000 |
| North Carolina | 5 | $31,186,975 |
| Pennsylvania | 4 | $29,557,871 |
| Georgia | 5 | $27,115,929 |
| Mississippi | 3 | $23,925,795 |
| Iowa | 2 | $22,400,000 |
| Kansas | 2 | $21,802,522 |
| Colorado | 9 | $15,779,091 |
| Oklahoma | 5 | $11,207,651 |
| Utah | 3 | $9,780,226 |
| Delaware | 2 | $7,972,500 |
| Minnesota | 1 | $5,700,000 |
| New Mexico | 1 | $5,244,071 |
| Arizona | 2 | $5,139,671 |
| Nevada | 5 | $3,251,324 |
| Rhode Island | 1 | $2,700,000 |
| Maine | 11 | $578,828 |
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