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Wal-Mart's planned distribution center for Polk County might create more than 600 jobs that pay slightly more than the annual wage there — but it will be a decade before the county government can benefit.
The Polk County Commission voted Tuesday to waive more than $12.4 million in anticipated property taxes for the complex, planned for at least 2 million square feet. Officials say Wal-Mart would have paid $1.2 million a year in taxes beginning in 2017, when the center is anticipated to open. The tax break could last until 2027.
Like many counties, Polk approved such tax exemptions for new businesses in a 2012 referendum. Commissioners later set guidelines on how such exemptions would be awarded. In those guidelines, however, the commission can't waive more than $2 million a year in taxes overall.
That created a problem for commissioners because more than $1 million in annual rebates has already been awarded, and Wal-Mart would more than double that. The recent vote, though, met the supermajority guidelines in place to expand that annual cap.
To get the rebate, Wal-Mart agreed to spend at least $10 million on construction and investment in the facility, though the company says the project could cost more than $200 million. The building will be on 150 acres near the intersection of U.S. 27 and Waverly Barn Road in Davenport, about seven miles from I-4, near where FedEx is building a distribution center.
Wal-Mart also agreed to create between 300 and 625 jobs, with an average annual wage of at least $42,000 -- or $20 per hour. At full capacity, Wal-Mart's payroll would be $26.3 million if it just met the minimum jobs requirement. The retailer agreed to the terms June 30.
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