Blog School Board Approves $68 Million in Incentives to Bring Tesla Factory to Texas

Tesla’s prospective factory project in Austin has gained support from the Del Valle Independent School District, which voted Thursday to approve incentives to lure the automaker to the area.

The proposal would give Tesla property tax incentives of $68 million and place the Tesla factory on land owned by the district. Tesla is interested in a 2,100 acre parcel at the intersection of State Highway 130 and Harold Green Road.

Travis County Commissioners are also considering whether to grant a 20-year property tax abatement to secure the factory. That particular proposal has experienced some objection from community members and commissioners pushed a vote on the matter until next week.

Tesla is also considering Tulsa for the Cybertruck factory. Chief Executive Elon Musk visiting the city last week, meeting with the Oklahoma governor. Tesla has conducted an enthusiastic campaign to attract the automaker, and has had less opposition from the community. However, Austin has long been the favorite and seems to be lining up the incentives to seal the deal.

 

[Solar/EV Fan]

On the other hand, the Michelin tire plant in Nova Scotia brought great economic advances to the area. It's certainly true that quite a few don't pan out, but the ones that do are stellar. I expect the TeraFactory to be one of the stellar ones.

I don't think per se that having a new business/company coming in is bad for the local economy, just not at the expense of special tax incentives/credits.

 

[jerry33]

I don't think per se that having a new business/company coming in is bad for the local economy, just not at the expense of special tax incentives/credits.

So does that mean you never shop at sales? (No offense intended, but it just seems similar to me.)

 

[Butler75080]

Gee... So Tesla really must not care much about education, since it doesn't want to pay its fair share of the cost of schools.

This is absurd. School districts are there for the kids, not to subsidize industry.

Tesla should be ashamed. So should Texans.

Maybe rather than pay Elon huge salary packages, Tesla should pay its taxes like everyone else.

 

[SilverString]

Lots of sour grapes here. The idea that Tesla is not paying taxes is absurd. They will pay their taxes just like all the other industry in Travis and Williamson county that get or have gotten tax abatements to bring jobs and prosperity to their particular communities. Why is no one talking about those companies here and elsewhere?

As everyone that has seen the sight and/or lives in Austin knows there is nothing there right now. Those who move to the DelValley district to find employment will pay property taxes. Furthermore it is east of I-35, beyond the so called economic "Red Line" that has traditionally divided Austin. So anyone who thinks this is not good for the community and the Austin area as a whole is simply uninformed and/or spouting off identity values.

 

[CyberGus]

I'm generally skeptical about these tax deals, but the devil is in the details. This abatement is time-limited, with specific targets, and of modest value and risk. I never like these deals when they involve incentives to a competitor of local shops, who have been paying their fair share. For a company investing millions or billions in an area, it's rational to ask the local municipality to show their commitment.

That said, the UK agreed to build a car factory for more than $200M, which ended up building only 10,000 cars. I think Margaret Thatcher paid more for my DeLorean than I did!

 

[cusetownusa]

Texas is great for income tax (it has none?), but its property tax is one of the worst if not The worst in the whole USA. From that point of view, it is not at all unreasonable to ask for relief from property tax.

Is it worse than NYS? I pay $12k on a $300,000 house and still get to enjoy high income taxes. I wouldn't mind paying the high property taxes if that meant no income taxes like in Texas.

 

[vickh]

I'd rather have higher property taxes vs income taxes . Atleast you can control the size of your home/ tax bill (I'd buy a small home in the nicest neighborhood) Same reason why I bought the 3