Tesla -- Austin -- June 23, 2020

Updates

June 25, 2020: looks like the move is on to AOC the Tesla move to Texas. Link here. My hunch: if Austin doesn't want them, Plano, Dallas, Grapevine, Roanoke, will welcome Tesla with open arms. Huge Tesla dealer in Southlake. Lots of support here for Tesla. And Lamborghini for that matter, also.

Original Post 

From KXAN:

 Tesla is looking to build a 4 million to 5 million square-foot manufacturing plant in the Austin area, and it would like to build on land within the Del Valle Independent School District with more than $68 million in tax incentives, an application with the Texas Comptroller’s office says.

Tesla wants to put an electric vehicle manufacturing facility — a Gigafactory — at the intersection of State Highway 130 and Harold Green Road on about 2,100 acres.

The property is currently home to a concrete batch plant owned and operated by Martin Marietta.

The proposed incentive agreement between the car maker and Del Valle ISD lets Tesla save money on its property tax bill paid to the school district by capping the property value for 10 years.

The plant would create an estimated 5,000 jobs, according to Tesla’s Section 313 tax limitation application with the school district. According to the application, wages for 25 positions would be around $74,000 per year.

He said many manufacturers tend to look in areas outside dense cities because land is more affordable in those areas, but they still need easy access to highways.

If approved by the school board, construction on the facility could start in the third quarter of this year.

Tesla said it has to come to an agreement or else it will build somewhere else. Tesla paid Del Valle ISD $150,000 on May 21 to file the application.

Personally, I'm getting tired of that meme, "but they still need easy access to highways."

Oh, give me a break. Building highways is the least of their problems in undeveloped areas. All one needs to do is look at the number of miles of new road built in the Bakken over the years.

But there you have it.

Hopefully no one on Del Valle ISD's governing board AOC's the project.

Del Val's ISD annual budget: around $70 million.

Del Val ISD: 12,000 students; 16 campuses.

$70 million / 12,000 = $6,000 / student. From us census/gov:

The amount spent per pupil for public elementary and secondary education (prekindergarten through 12th grade) for all 50 states and the District of Columbia increased by 3.7% to $12,201 per pupil during the 2017 fiscal year, compared to $11,763 per pupil in 2016.

Texas average, per pupil: $9,375.

North Dakota, per pupil: $13,760.

New York, per pupil: $23,091

Beginning in the 2020 - 2021 school year, the Del Val ISD will have its own police department.