State board approves $330 million in tax breaks for Tesla

CARSON CITY, Nev. (KOLO) - The Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development approved more than $330 million in tax abatements for Tesla.

The electric vehicle company is building two facilities in Storey County, a total investment of $3.6 billion. The GOED expects the facilities 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.”

Their new 100-gigawatt-hour facility will produce batteries for 1.5 million light duty vehicles a year. Their other facility will be the company’s first semi factory.

“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 project will also create an estimated 9,275 jobs in construction and 5,858 additional indirect and induced jobs through 2027, resulting in a one-time economic impact of $2.8 billion over the next six years.

The GOED estimates the expansion would create an annual economic impact of an estimated $2.2 billion or $38 billion over the next 20 years. They also expect it will generate $209 million in wages by 2030.

They also believe Tesla could generate $21.8 million in 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.

Tesla will be paying an annual minimum of $53 million in real and personal property taxes and modified business taxes relating the factory.