Travis County, TX has offered up to $7.4 million in incentives to Apple to aid in building a new campus in Texas, in exchange for a promise that the company will hire a certain percentage of “economically disadvantaged” local residents.
Statesman.comTravis County is considering giving Apple an 80 percent rebate on its tax bill for 10 years — up to $7.4 million with a potential five-year extension — if the company locates a facility here that could create up to 3,600 jobs.
The county’s proposal is the smallest of three government-backed subsidies being offered to Apple. The City of Austin approved $8.6 million in tax breaks for the company, while the state-run Texas Enterprise Fund has proposed a $21 million incentive package.
The commissioners said they would bring the Apple incentive deal up again at their April 17 meeting. County Judge Sam Biscoe said that county staff will need to negotiate with Apple in the interim.
Chief issues during negotiations, Biscoe said, will be to make sure Apple hires a proportion of “economically disadvantaged” people. These would include the unemployed, those who went through targeted job training, or live in a poor area marked for development. Biscoe wouldn’t say what percentage the county would be shooting for.
“We want to provide some opportunity for upward mobility but also give Apple employees that are qualified,” Biscoe said.
Apple’s project would be built in two phases in Northwest Austin, near its current customer support center. A $56.5 million 200,000 square-foot office would be built first, followed by a $226 million office with up to 800,000 square feet.
The 3,600 jobs are expected to be filled over the course of 10 years. County officials say the average salary for those jobs would range from $54,000 to $73,500.
