I'm sure that the tax benefits are not the only criterion here. There are plenty of things cities can do to attract companies that aren't tax breaks — SF and NY and others are already there. Amazon wants a place that its employees would actually want to live, too. But that doesn't mean tax breaks and other incentives shouldn't be on the table. But my point isn't even whether they're good or bad, it's that they're not prima facie evidence of corruption.

It's good not to forget the toplevel posts, which quotes that Amazon ASKS specifically for money amount.

"Please provide a summary of total incentives offered for the Project by the state/province and local community. In this summary, please provide a brief description of the incentive item, the timing of incentive payment/realization, and a calculation of the incentive amount"

Read their RFP for more.

Some businesses improve the business climate. A Whole Foods-headlined plaza has higher property value than a liquor store-headlined plaza. A city block with Four Seasons hotel is likely to be valued higher than a similar city block with a Motel 6.

Businesses don't want to be victims of their own success, where immediately after they plunk the money down for buildout and development they're reassessed at the value they themselves added.

This is exactly what I've been saying about tax breaks people want for the film industry here in LA so they can compete w/ Atlanta and other places in the US when really they need to be competing on a national basis, if these benefits are actually useful (which hasn't really been the case for taxpayers).