The Tucson City Council is ready to use a package of tax incentives to help bring a major employer to Tucson, voting to join Pima County in offering more than $6 million in tax breaks over 15 years.
Massachusetts-based HomeGoods is looking at Tucson and a couple of other cities as locations for its new warehouse and distribution center, which would open next year with 410 jobs.
The company has made an offer on property near the airport, 3649 E. Corona Road, but hasn’t closed on the sale. A letter from HomeGoods’ agent to the city indicates the company is under contract on the property.
To seal the deal, area governments are using two kinds of incentives: a payment in lieu of taxes incentive and a jobs incentive. Combined, they are worth more than $1.5 million in tax breaks in the first year.
The council voted unanimously Wednesday to more forward with its portion of the tax incentive deal and is expected to give its final approval next month. The Pima County Board of Supervisors gave its approval for property tax incentives a month ago.
The jobs incentive program was created for projects like this and the city is using it wisely, Councilwoman Regina Romero said.
Bill Ferguson, manager of HomeGoods distribution center engineering, said the company chose Tucson because of its location near highways and railways, and for its workforce.
In a related item, the council also unanimously cleared the way for the company to construct the type of building it wants by approving new zoning conditions and lifting height restrictions.
Restrictions imposed on the property when it was first annexed in 1988 limited building heights to 39 feet. The council approved increasing them to 55 feet to allow stacking of merchandise.
