AMAZON TO RECEIVE $1 BILLION IN TAX BREAKS IN EASTERN OREGON FOR NEW DATA CENTERS

Officials in a remote northeastern Oregon county have voted to give tax breaks worth an estimated $1 billion to Amazon for five more data centers there

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Wednesday's unanimous vote by Port of Morrow's five commissioners was the last step in securing the enterprise zone incentives, The Oregonian/Oregon Live reported. Companies in the state can receive property tax exemptions through local enterprise zones.

Local officials hope the incentives will bring $12 billion in new Amazon spending in their county along the Columbia River about 160 miles (257 kilometers) from Portland.

Amazon already has four giant data centers in Morrow County and several hundred local jobs tied to its operations. But its growth has produced contentious debate over how the Seattle company secured its incentives and an ongoing probe over possible self-dealing by some people awarding its tax breaks.

The state is investigating potential conflicts of interest among port officials and a former county commissioner who own Windwave Communications, a company that provides fiber-optic service to Amazon's local data centers.

Amazon and Windwave haven't responded to requests from the newspaper for information about the value of the two companies' contracts.