The Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) Board approved a $330,250,366 abatement for Tesla, Inc. The company has pledged to make a $3.6 billion capital investment at its current site in Storey County where it is also required to create 3,000 jobs at an average hourly wage of $33.49.
“Tesla has far exceeded every promise they made going back to 2014,” said Governor Joe Lombardo, who chairs the GOED Board. “To date, they have invested $6.2 billion in Nevada, built a 5.4 million square foot Gigafactory which provided 17,000 local construction jobs and created more than 11,000 highly paid permanent jobs.”
Tesla plans to add 4 million square feet in two new factories at its existing Gigafactory site. The new 100-gigawatt-hour battery cell factory will have enough capacity to produce batteries for 1.5 million light duty vehicles annually. The other will be the company’s first Semi factory, a fully electric combination truck with 500 miles of range.
“Since the inception of GOED, the main goal has been to diversify Nevada’s economy,” said Tom Burns, GOED Executive Director. “The Nevada-Tesla partnership cemented a new economic sector in Nevada for the manufacturing of electric vehicle battery packs and drive units, and energy storage products. Tesla’s Gigafactory propelled Nevada’s manufacturing industry, establishing lithium-ion batteries as the state’s eighth largest export both nationally and internationally.”
The new projects will create an estimated 9,275 construction jobs and 5,858 additional indirect and induced jobs through 2027. This level of construction activity could result in a one-time economic impact of $2.8 billion over the next six years. The Tesla expansion could create an annual economic impact estimated at $2.2 billion or $38 billion over the next 20 years. The 3,000 people Tesla will employ will generate $209 million in annual wages by 2030.
Assuming a capital investment of $3.6 billion in land, buildings and equipment, the company could generate an estimated $21.8 million in gross average annual property tax revenues, $11.2 million in gross average annual sales taxes, $1.1 million in average annual business license taxes on utilities, and $2.1 million in gross average annual modified business taxes over 20 years. All total, this will result in an estimated $685 million in net state and local revenues the next 20 years.
As a result of its first abatement agreement in 2014, Tesla will begin paying an annual minimum of $53 million in real and personal property taxes and modified business taxes relating to the Gigafactory commencing July 1, 2024, and in perpetuity thereafter.