Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) won’t receive any direct cash payments from Arlington County, this year at least, for its HQ2 office leases.
It’s not because the company didn’t keep up its end of the bargain or turned away incentive dollars during a pandemic that has hit local government budgets particularly hard. Rather, it’s because Amazon’s incentive payments are tied to Arlington’s tourism industry. And most rooms remain empty due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Arlington Economic Development on Monday confirmed in an email that Amazon wouldn’t receive its 2020 incentive payment this year — the first of 15 disbursements planned through 2034. Amazon did not respond to requests for comment.
According to the deal Arlington struck with the company almost two years ago, if Amazon hits yearly office square footage goals the county is to provide it a portion of the hotel room tax — known as the transient occupancy tax. Over a 15-year period, county officials expected Amazon could net $22.7 million from that agreement.
