Tesla has secured an important approval for a tax break from a local school district in order to build its next Gigafactory in Austin, Texas.
In May, Electrek exclusively reported that Tesla’s next factory is going to be in Austin.
It plans to move fast with hopes to have a general assembly line for Model Y in Texas by the end of the year, and it is already making preparations at a site near Austin.
Last month, we reported on Tesla securing a 2,100-acre piece of land just outside Austin to build the factory.
However, before the deal is made official, Tesla needs to receive approval from a few levels of local government for an incentive package that includes significant tax breaks for the $1 billion electric vehicle factory.
Today, the Del Valle Independent School District, which would be receiving a large part of the taxes Tesla will be paying for the factory, has officially approved the tax break that could save Tesla over $50 million in the next 10 years.
Now Tesla needs to receive approval from Travis County commissioners for an additional tax abatement before it officially moves forward with the project.
The project, which is codenamed Colorado River Project, has also been called the Tesla Cybertruck Gigafactory since it is expected to be the manufacturing site for Tesla’s upcoming electric pickup truck.
Electrek’s Take
Again, my understanding is that the deal for the Austin factory is unofficially a done deal. It just needs to go through the process.
It was also a no-brainer for the school district since they are approving forgoing taxes that don’t exist right now anyway.
Here are the trends of the school district revenue from that piece of land without Tesla, with Tesla and the tax break, and with Tesla without tax break:
I would argue that this is a pretty good compromise.
Over the period, the school district is going to get an additional $28 million in funding, which is a big deal for a relatively small school district.
The logic is similar for the bigger incentive package at the county level, which I also expect will be officially adopted soon.
I expect that Tesla will officially announce as soon as next week that the project is happening in Austin.
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