Resolution approval needed to rescind IQT tax incentive deal

To undo giving New York-based IQT Solutions tax incentives for previous plans to relocate to Nashville, the Metro Council will have to approve a resolution to rescind the prior agreement.

Council attorney Jon Cooper told The City Paper a resolution has been filed that would officially renege on the $1.61 million in tax incentives offered to the call center company, a plan that blew up [1] after Mayor Karl Dean and others learned of the abrupt closing of three IQT offices in Canada.

In June, the council unanimously voted to approve the tax incentives, which came with the promise of IQT’s creation of 900 jobs in Nashville. The mayor’s office of economic and community development had orchestrated the agreement.

But in light of the company’s unexpected mishaps, and Nashville’s dead deal, the council will now have to approve a resolution to retract the previous agreement. The resolution is to go before the council at its Aug. 16 meeting.

“It’s basically just repealing the prior resolution and rescinding the council’s prior approval,” Cooper said.

The resolution is certain to clear the council. The real question is whether council members decide to use the vote to question members of Dean’s administration on the level of vetting prior to making the deal with IQT.

“I think it’s a good opportunity for us to look at this agreement, unwind it, and then if council members have questions about the deal, it will give everyone an opportunity to have more transparency to what the deal was,” said Megan Barry, who chairs the council’s Budget and Finance Committee.