Tax incentives given to Boeing for new jobs amid word of possible layoffs
A week before a ribbon-cutting where Boeing announced it would be creating about 800 new jobs, the company said possible layoffs could be coming.
KOCO looked into the details of tax dollars being given to Boeing for the creation of new jobs.
The new jobs will have to meet the salary threshold of at least $85,000 a year.
The hires must be in place for at least a year before the company can receive a payment from Oklahoma City.
The new incentives contract between Oklahoma City and Boeing said the city will give the corporate giant about $6 million to create 800 new jobs.
Catherine O’Conner, executive director for The Alliance for Economic Development for Oklahoma City, said there’s a system in place to ensure the jobs are created.
“Over time as the jobs are created, let’s say in a year they create 150 jobs -- after that year mark is completed, they would provide documentation for the city and the city would pay them an incentive payment for those 150 jobs,” O'Conner said.
OKC and Boeing have two previous incentives contracts.
The most recent amended city records show that in 2011, in contract No. 1, the city agreed to give the company $1.8 million for the creation of 285 jobs. In 2013, contract No. 2 was $4.5 million for 800 new jobs.
The tax dollars incentives allow companies to create economic activity that the city can benefit from more from in the long run.
“The overall economic impact from these jobs can be two to three times, maybe even much more than that,” O'Conner said.
Boeing announced July 22 that it would send out notices of possible layoffs as early as 60 days in advance.
Boeing would not say how many people will be laid off and how the process would affect the tax incentives contract with the city.
O’Conner said the company shows commitment to staying.
“With these 900 jobs, they’ll have about 3,000 employees here. They have built this new this new building they own on land they leased from the Oklahoma Industries Authority,” she said. “They have a big financial investment in Oklahoma and it would not make any sense for them to go and leave in any short period of time, probably not even 50 or 25 years.”