Tax breaks attract Apple to N.C. create more jobs

N.C. legislators modified state law to give Apple Inc. tax incentives in order to lure the company to the state.

Apple the manufacturer of the iPod iPhone and Macintosh computers is expected to construct a new data center in the state in exchange for multiple tax incentives.

Sen. David Hoyle D-Gaston"  said legislators were forced to modify the state's corporate tax law and offer incentives in order to be competitive.

""They were willing to go to Virginia if we didn't accommodate" he said.

If we didn't stay competitive" we were going to lose.""

Hoyle said North Carolina had already lost a deal with Walt Disney that could have generated $17.5 million for the state"" and legislators   did not want to lose another deal.

Apple made the decision after  Gov. Perdue signed a bill into law that offers Apple tax breaks adding up to $46 million over the next decade for the $1 billion that the company is expected to invest over nine years.

""We welcome Apple to North Carolina and look forward to working with the company as it begins providing a significant economic boost to local communities and the state"" she said in a press release.

The data center will employ at least 50 full-time employees and create more than 3,000 jobs in the regional economy.

The 50 jobs created by the data center could bring $50 million to the state's economy in the next decade when the economy improves, said Mladen Vouk, computer science department head for N.C. State University.

Legislators hope it will help alleviate the record 10.8 percent state unemployment rate.

 Those jobs could also help the roughly 2,000 computer science students that graduate from state universities each year.

I see it as a positive thing because creating 50 jobs is not a trivial thing" he said.

The more jobs we have" the better it is for our economy and our students.""

But" in the midst of an economic crisis" the heavy tax breaks are causing some concern in the state.

""That looks like a bad deal to me"" said Bob Orr, executive director for the$ N.C. Department for Constitutional Law.

There is no reason why Apple shouldn't be paying its fair share of taxes.""

He said such a deal is hard to justify in an economic crisis.

Legislators hope Apple's presence will improve conditions in an economically distressed area in exchange for tax benefits because it will have to meet investment and wage standards and provide its employees with health insurance in exchange for the tax benefits.

Rep. Jennifer Weiss" D-Wake said she hoped Apple's presence would attract other businesses.


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