Marlborough City Council approves BJ's Wholesale Club tax deal 8-3

MARLBOROUGH — May 10, 2021 — Marlborough City Council approved an 8-3 vote Monday to grant a 20-year tax increment financing agreement to BJ's Wholesale Club Inc., clearing the company's headquarters relocation from Westborough to Marlborough's industrial park at 350 and 100 Campus Drive. The deal, recommended 3-2 by the Finance Committee on May 3, covers roughly 168,000 square feet of space for approximately 800 relocating employees and includes construction of a new parking garage; no new Marlborough jobs are created. Councilors identified as Oram, Wagner, and Perlman voted no, with Oram arguing the city "cannot support additional funds being taken away from our residents" given hard budget years ahead, and Perlman noting the company would save over $590,000 under a deal she called unnecessary given Marlborough's inherent advantages. In a separate 6-5 vote, the council approved a mayoral order supporting Elm and Bigelow Streets as the proposed West Side fire station site and referred it to the Finance and Public Safety Committees; five councilors voted no, citing constituent concerns and insufficient prior council discussion. The council also unanimously referred Mayor Arthur Vigeant's $173,983,364 zero-percent-increase FY2022 budget to the Finance Committee, with a public hearing set for May 24.