Tesla in Austin ???? (Houston, Dallas, Sparks: 2014, schools, salaries)

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

Originally Posted by ScoPro

We raise hay & fire ants on my acreage near the CotA..... better than a lot of that rocky caliche west & northwest of Austin (with the beautiful Hill Country views).

I have fire ants and sticky weed on my property in Far South Austin, although I haven't had any fire ants this year, so far .

If my property taxes go up 25% I'm gonna start looking for a half acre to an acre of land out around Garfield to move my trailer. I can't afford the Hill Country so I don't even think about it.

[ScoPro]

Look around Lockhart maybe?

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by Ivory Lee Spurlock

I have fire ants and sticky weed on my property in Far South Austin, although I haven't had any fire ants this year, so far .

If my property taxes go up 25% I'm gonna start looking for a half acre to an acre of land out around Garfield to move my trailer. I can't afford the Hill Country so I don't even think about it.

your taxes wont go up 25%. They are proposing the austin portion go up 25%. The austin portion I think is 20%, so overall a 5% increase (coupled with whatever increase they get through overall).

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by cBach

Will Tesla be paying to rebuild and update the schools in the area since Del Valle will be forgoing $68 million in property taxes?

Del Valle gets reimbursed by the state for almost all of those waived taxes, or that is how the program was explained in the paper. And considering how little the land is worth and the likelihood that many of the workers will not live in the school district, Del Valle is likely to come out ahead still.

The proposed Tesla incentives deal with the Del Valle Independent School District is a so-called Chapter 313 agreement. That refers to Chapter 313 of the Texas Tax Code, which allows school districts to grant property tax breaks for economic development projects. The state is then required to repay the school district for the amount of property tax it gives up in the agreement.

Originally Posted by cBach

Will Tesla be paying to improve the roads in the area since many don't even have shoulders or does Tesla want CoA or Travis County to pay for it?

Not sure exactly which routes the workers will take to/from the facility, but state road access is generally paid for by the company, and state road improvements themselves are state paid. If the local and state government really managed their money, this would not be an issue - the increase in sales taxes and the franchise tax would easily cover this. But they will likely squander it on something else and 'not have money for roads'.

Originally Posted by cBach

Will Tesla guarantee that more than 50% of the positions will be filled from people within Southeast Travis County?

We aren't China yet, so no need for such nonsense.

Originally Posted by cBach

Will Tesla guarantee that it will not strain the water resources in the area? How much water does a Tesla factory need to operate and will it clean the water it uses or will our treatment plants have to be expanded to treat the water.

I am curious as to what water usage will be, but there is actually a pretty rigorous process for companies to get water rights now - it is the increasing population that increase usage without real control. If they cannot access sufficient water rights, then they won't be able to operate. Most of these large, new facilities have excellent water recycling systems, though, and I am not sure how much of a manufacturing plant this will be vs. an assembly plant.

Originally Posted by cBach

Will the Tesla factory be a green energy building requiring no CoA electricity? I would expect solar panels, tesla batteries, and wind turbines on-site.

There will not be wind turbines on site, I can almost guarantee they would not be allowed. But it is highly likely that they will build their own power plant/system and not need the CoA; heck, they may turn into suppliers to the city of Austin.

[ScoPro]

The Hornsby Bend water treatment plant is located just a mile & a half WSW directly across 130 from the proposed plant location.
I’m sure Austin would be happy to sell Tesla that treated poop water instead of dumping it in the Colorado for Bastrop to drink for free. Lol

[cBach]

Originally Posted by ScoPro

The Hornsby Bend water treatment plant is located just a mile & a half WSW directly across 130 from the proposed plant location.
I’m sure Austin would be happy to sell Tesla that treated poop water instead of dumping it in the Colorado for Bastrop to drink for free. Lol

I remember that some silicon wafer factories said they could use directly untreated Lake Travis water because the kind of water needed for some of these factories doesn't have to be potable. If that's the case, yes that sewage treatment plant may be an option. But that is still less water being placed into the Colorado River Basin and during droughts we need every drop. This may be mitigated by the Arbuckle Reservoir to some degree, but they've been having engineering nightmares for that reservoir so I don't expect that to be up and running for some time.

[cBach]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Del Valle gets reimbursed by the state for almost all of those waived taxes, or that is how the program was explained in the paper. And considering how little the land is worth and the likelihood that many of the workers will not live in the school district, Del Valle is likely to come out ahead still.
.

I understand how the reimbursement works but it is capped. So right now the reimbursement will be a net benefit but as the value of the factory rises with construction Del Valle will be capped while the property keeps rising.

This is sort of a timing thing. Do you want immediate benefits but have them capped or have tax revenues rise as the value of the property rises? It's easy to see that Del Valle will be missing out, if not now then in the future.

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by cBach

I understand how the reimbursement works but it is capped. So right now the reimbursement will be a net benefit but as the value of the factory rises with construction Del Valle will be capped while the property keeps rising.

This is sort of a timing thing. Do you want immediate benefits but have them capped or have tax revenues rise as the value of the property rises? It's easy to see that Del Valle will be missing out, if not now then in the future.

*shrug* It is only a 10-year deal. That empty land is worth almost nothing to the school district right now and this construction would be a huge increase in appraised value. That results in a huge amount of money coming from the state (to off-set the exemption) for basically no loss on DV's part. Heck, they will probably have to pay into Robin Hood if that money is subject to it. I really can't see how DV comes out behind. If there is, by some circumstance, a big increase in the number of kids in the district, that would mean an increase in property values from the residents, as well.

The only negative I can see is from a state-level - that off-set money has to come from the general fund. Or I guess some OTHER company might come in and increase the taxes on that land by 6 million/year and not get an exemption - but I wouldn't hold my breath.

[cBach]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

*shrug* It is only a 10-year deal. That empty land is worth almost nothing to the school district right now and this construction would be a huge increase in appraised value. That results in a huge amount of money coming from the state (to off-set the exemption) for basically no loss on DV's part. Heck, they will probably have to pay into Robin Hood if that money is subject to it. I really can't see how DV comes out behind. If there is, by some circumstance, a big increase in the number of kids in the district, that would mean an increase in property values from the residents, as well.

The only negative I can see is from a state-level - that off-set money has to come from the general fund. Or I guess some OTHER company might come in and increase the taxes on that land by 6 million/year and not get an exemption - but I wouldn't hold my breath.

You hit the nail on the head. The money DV gets is coming from somewhere else that isn't going to get the money. This isn't a net benefit to the state. Somebody loses somewhere. Tesla doesn't lose and possibly DV doesn't lose but maybe some rural school doesn't get their roof leak fixed.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by cBach

You hit the nail on the head. The money DV gets is coming from somewhere else that isn't going to get the money. This isn't a net benefit to the state. Somebody loses somewhere. Tesla doesn't lose and possibly DV doesn't lose but maybe some rural school doesn't get their roof leak fixed.

no one loses when economic activity is increased. The pie gets bigger