Tax breaks, $260 million lured Amazon to Mississippi

MADISON COUNTY, Miss. (WLBT) – Major tax breaks and a quarter-million-dollar investment from the state helped cement what’s being touted as Mississippi’s largest economic development announcement ever: two hyperscale data centers from Amazon expected to bring hundreds of jobs and tens of millions to Madison County.

The two data centers, which will be constructed in two different parts of the county on land spanning more than 1,700 acres, will be part of Amazon Web Services’ cloud computing framework.

The incentive package from lawmakers includes a ten-year corporate income tax exemption, a three percent rebate on construction costs, and rolling state tax exemptions that could last as long as thirty years.

To keep them, Amazon must continue to make minimum investments of $500 million and 50 additional jobs each year.

This comes on top of the $215 million loan from the state to Madison County for site infrastructure work and $44 million appropriated from lawmakers for training and site planning.

Gov. Tate Reeves and other statewide officials touted the Amazon announcement as one that would represent a $10 billion capital investment from the company, bringing with it 1,000 jobs for the two centers.

Documents shared among lawmakers give more context to those widely reported statements: Amazon isn’t expected to hit that 1,000-job mark until 2034, ten years from now.

State Sen. John Horhn, D-Jackson, said the job estimates and economic impact are conservative ones.

He touts one major benefit to Madison County taxpayers: fees in lieu of taxes that the company will pay.

Horhn said the Canton School District could get $30 million annually, and Madison County Schools could receive as much as $10 million per year.

The county itself is estimated to bring in tens of millions of dollars in taxes from the project, money that will initially pay back the $215 million loan.

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