Arizona lawmakers have swiftly approved a bill that would line up millions of dollars in tax incentives for Apple Inc.’s global command center in Mesa, which will employ 150 permanent workers.
Just days before the bill was transmitted to Ducey on Thursday, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee released a fiscal note on the legislation, House Bill 2670, which gave the state’s first official estimates of the impact to the general fund.
It includes a $25 million total income tax credit, over a five-year period, on the condition that Apple invests $100 million in a renewable energy facility to help power its global command center in Mesa.
That renewable energy income tax credit was first approved last year, but required a $300 million investment in renewable facilities. HB 2670 dropped the investment requirement because Apple’s energy needs in Mesa will be substantially less as a command center than as a manufacturing operation.
HB 2670 also includes a sales tax exemption on energy use for an “international operations center,” which would save Apple, and cost the state, an estimated $1.3 million a year, according to the JLBC’s fiscal note.
This sales tax exemption was also approved last year for manufacturers, but was drafted with Apple in mind. Thus, the total hit to the general fund is at least $19 million annually, according to the JLBC’s fiscal notes from last year and this year.
Additionally, Apple already receives a big break on its property taxes because the Mesa facility is located within a Foreign Trade Zone. Since purchasing the facility in November 2013, Apple has saved about $1 million annually so far in property taxes, according to KJZZ’s calculations.
