The York County Council in South Carolina voted Tuesday to approve a tax incentive deal to bring a Costco distribution center to Rock Hill near Charlotte, according to The Herald.

During the third and final reading of the ordinance and after hours of contentious debate, the vote passed.

However, the council used a legislative maneuver to find the money for the tax deal that some found dubious at best, leaving open the question of whether Costco will accept the deal in the end. 

The vote continues the saga for a development deal with Costco that was once so secretive that it was given the codename “Project Sample,” the Charlotte Business Journal reported.

Costco had imposed a deadline of Dec. 11 for the county to approve the incentive plans. 

The distribution site, slated to open in 2027 at Interstate 77 and Porter Road, would span 168 acres and service 20 Costco regional warehouse stores in the Carolinas and Georgia. The project is expected to result in 165 jobs. 

Construction would be done in two phases. The first phase would be the construction of a 541K SF distribution center. Once operational, the building would then be expanded to nearly 900K SF, the Charlotte Business Journal reported.

Panattoni Development Co. is expected to develop the site.

The York County Council debated various incentive packages to entice Costco to build its warehouse before landing on a $25M credit to offset a little more than half of the reported $44M the company would pay for public infrastructure improvements. 

According to county documents, Costco sought a $30M credit to offset these costs, the CBJ reported.

While debating how to pay for the incentive, however, the council came up with a formula that would require the city of Rock Hill and the Rock Hill School District to give back millions to the county in tax credits. The argument in favor of this is that both entities would receive more tax revenue than they lost when the distribution center is built. 

At the last minute, however, a divided council shifted more of the tax credit clawback burden to the city and away from the school district.

The deal, which the county has been discussing for months, sparked backlash and confusion.