SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio City Council voted 11-0 Thursday in favor of $142.8 million worth of city and utility incentives meant to tempt Toyota into building a new $2 billion vehicle assembly line at its South Side plant.
In return, the company hopes to bring in thousands of well-paying jobs.
Prior to Thursday morning’s vote, all 10 council members and Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones shared varying levels of excitement about the prospects of the package.
“I am so excited that this opportunity comes along with this new council and mayor because it doesn’t always come along,” District 3 Council Member Phyllis Viagran said.
“If we’re going to truly uplift our city, this is the kind of win it’s going to take,” District 7 Council Member Marina Alderete Gavito said.
Toyota, which opened its South Side plant where it currently assembles the Tundra and Sequoia in 2006, is deciding where to place a new vehicle assembly line in a “highly competitive” selection process.
The company has not said what model the new line would produce or what other locations it’s considering, but San Antonio is trying to ensure the new line comes here.
The city’s $122.1 million worth of incentives include:
- A 10-year property tax break worth an estimated $88.1 million
- Road and intersection improvements with $24.5 million of city money
- Worker training grants worth up to $9 million
- City fee waivers worth up to $500,000
The city council also decided to recommend the manufacturer for another $20.7 million worth of help from the city’s power and water utilities through $4.5 million worth of San Antonio Water System fee waivers and a CPS Energy program that could reduce the company’s electric rates, worth $16.2 million.
“You can’t force people to invest in communities that they don’t care about or believe in. And so, those industries, employers and companies that do choose to invest in you, you value them,” District 2 Council Member Jalen McKee-Rodriguez said. “And so, I appreciate the partnership that we’ve had with Toyota over the past 20+ years. This is us, as an organization, investing in you and in your success.”
As part of the deal, Toyota would create 2,000 full-time jobs, earning at least the county’s average annual wage — which is currently $32.46 per hour.
Part of the deal includes Toyota making “good faith efforts” to fill at least half of those jobs with people from the local area.
San Antonio is not the only one flashing cash at Toyota in an attempt to bring an expansion to the South Side.
Bexar County is scheduled to discuss its own 10-year, $55.3 million tax break proposal next week, and the Southwest Independent School District has indicated its support for a break of its portion of Toyota’s property tax bill.
San Antonio also nominated Toyota for a Texas Enterprise Zone (TEZ) “Triple Jumbo” project, which could allow it to get up to $3.75 million worth of state sales and use tax refunded.
Staff also said Thursday that SAWS and CPS Energy would also be offering additional help through infrastructure support and a natural gas discount, worth another combined $42.5 million.
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