FedEx Tax Break Plan Draws No Opposition at Collierville, Tenn., Board Meeting
No vote was taken at the meeting, but no one spoke in opposition, either. IDB will vote on the request later this month.
"The impact of FedEx in this community, it's hard to put your finger on it, but it's gigantic," board member Terry Cochran said afterward.
EARLIER: FedEx threatens to move without tax breaks
With lease expirations approaching, FedEx has threatened to move the tech center. The company already received tax breaks starting in 1998, and those breaks expire in 2018. In exchange for not leaving, FedEx would get most of its town and Shelby County property taxes written off for many more years: 20 years for town taxes, 15 years for Shelby County taxes, for a total savings of $75.5 million, according to a work sheet distributed at the meeting.
John Duncan, Collierville's economic development director, endorsed the tax breaks by noting the information technology center employs 2,425 FedEx workers with a total annual payroll estimated at $233.8 million. An additional 400 contractors work on-site. FedEx has promised to invest millions of dollars more in facilities and equipment in the coming years, he said.
After Duncan's presentation, he said, "Questions? You guys are awful quiet." The board members asked a few fact-finding inquiries, but no one criticized the proposed deal. In less than 45 minutes, the meeting was over, setting up a vote at the next industrial development board meeting Jan. 21. Ratification by the town's Board of Mayor and Aldermen would be on the Jan. 25 agenda. The Shelby County portion of the tax breaks can be finalized in Collierville and doesn't have to go to the area's larger economic development agency, called Economic Development Growth Engine, according to Reid Dulberger, head of that organization.
FedEx representatives didn't speak at the meeting at Collierville Town Hall, which was attended by Mayor Stan Joyner and other town notables.
Collierville Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Kanette Keough-Rodgers said the organization backs further tax incentives to support FedEx.
Moving the tech center out of Collierville wouldn't necessarily be easy for FedEx, said John J. Barrios, chairman of the chamber's board of directors: "It costs a lot of money to move." But he said just a few miles south of Collierville, the state of Mississippi is offering big subsidies to companies willing to invest.
"It's kind of like a high-stakes poker game," Barrios said. "Somebody might be bluffing. But can you take that chance?" He said continuing to give tax breaks to FedEx probably is the town's best move.
