Edible Apple

A few weeks ago, it was reported that the North Carolina legislature was contemplating offering Apple a number of tax breaks in the hopes that Apple would set up a server farm in the state, an investment which North Carolina lawmakers speculate will surpass $1 Billion over the course of 9 years.

This past Monday, the North Carolina legislature approved the necessary tax cuts, which all but pave the way for Apple to invest in a server farm there.  Apple, in typical fashion, has remained mum on the matter.

Yahoo reports:

The bill would give the qualifying company a break on state corporate income taxes. The tax break could be worth about $46 million in the next decade, assuming the lone, unnamed company projected to qualify reaches its $1 billion investment target within nine years of starting, according to a memo by legislative fiscal staffers…

If the Apple project also remained active for 30 years, its server farm could save more than $300 million on its corporate taxes, based on legislative staffers’ estimates.

Sites in western North Carolina also are under consideration for the Apple facility, including in Catawba and Cleveland counties. Both counties posted April unemployment rates of about 15 percent.

Construction of the Apple site would be expected to employ hundreds of workers for more than a year, but the initial full-time work force of the data center would total fewer than 100, lawmakers said last week.