San Jose mayor refuses to bid to be Amazon's new HQ

San Jose Mayor tells Amazon 'no deal'

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo on California's tax system and it becoming a sanctuary state.

In early September, Amazon made an announcement that left cities across North America scrambling to pitch themselves to the e-commerce giant: It needed to build a second headquarter, one that it promised would bring in at least 50,000 high-paying jobs and billions of dollars in investment.

Cities made sweeping gestures in hopes of nabbing the coveted position, sending a 21-foot-tall statue of a saguaro cactus to CEO Jeff Bezos’ office (Tucson, Ariz.) or offering to change their it’s city’s name to Amazon (Stonecrest, Ga.).

But one city won’t be joining the antics. Democratic mayor Sam Liccardo told FOX Business’ Stuart Varney

“For the most part, these subsidies are a bad deal for taxpayers,” he said on “Varney & Co.

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Amazon’s current headquarter is located in Seattle, and the company estimates that its investments in the city’s economy produced an additional $38 billion between 2010 and 2016.

But in the past few years, California has lost some companies to states, namely Texas, that offer significant reductions in taxes. Currently, California’s tax rate for businesses hovers above 8%. Texas’ is 1%.

“Certainly taxes and fees are a serious concern,” Liccardo said. “I think throughout the state of California, we aren’t as competitive in that dimension as many other states.”