TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas — The Travis County Commissioners Court voted 4-0 – with one abstaining – on July 14 on a deal that could bring a Tesla "Gigafactory" and thousands of jobs to Austin. On July 10, Del Valle ISD gave the OK to give the electric car company $46.4 million in property tax breaks.
In exchange for tax breaks, the new plan would force Tesla representatives to do the following:
- Ensure at least half of their workers live in Travis County
- Give some of the money the company saves on tax breaks to local nonprofits or schools
- Hire at least 5,000 workers in four years
- Ensure pay starts at $15 an hour and goes up over time
A copy of the agreement can be viewed here:
Talks about Tesla moving to Texas started back in February when CEO Elon Musk posted a Twitter poll asking "Giga Texas?" along with the voting options of "Hell yeah" and "Nope."
In May, Musk took to Twitter, saying his headquarters will move to the Lone Star State "immediately" in response to Alameda County in California advising Tesla to remain closed until June 1 amid the coronavirus pandemic. Following Musk's tweets, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott confirmed he talked to the CEO about the move.
"It's true. Texas is a perfect fit for Tesla," the governor wrote on Twitter on May 13.
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