Fort Bend County Waives 100% of Property Taxes for Tesla Solar Plant

Fort Bend County commissioners voted 4-0 on Thursday to approve a package of four agreements that could grant Tesla up to 35 years of local tax relief. The deal covers equipment for a proposed $10 billion solar factory near Richmond. Tesla has not yet confirmed it will build the plant in Texas.

The facility, named Project Crystal Sun, would produce products from silicon ingots to finished modules. Commercial production is targeted for the first quarter of 2029. The agreements include a Chapter 312 tax abatement and a Chapter 381 incentive agreement. For the first 10 tax years, the abatement waives 100% of county property taxes on equipment and other tangible personal property.

Tesla’s filing splits the $10.1 billion investment into $1.52 billion of real property and $8.6 billion of personal property. Land and buildings remain fully taxable at all times. Inventory is handled through Foreign-Trade Zone No. 149, with payments in lieu of taxes set at zero during the abatement period.

After the abatement ends, the county returns 90% of equipment taxes as an annual grant for 20 years. If Tesla averages at least 12,000 employees for two consecutive years in the first decade, the first five years of the rebate become a 100% grant. This extends the rebate period to 25 years, stretching the deal to year 35. That threshold is 2,288 jobs above the 9,712 positions Tesla says it will create.

To keep the benefits, Tesla must begin construction by June 30, 2027, and start commercial production by December 31, 2030. Jobs are to ramp to 9,712 by the fourth year at an average of $55 per hour. Tesla receives the full abatement if it reaches 90% of the target, which is about 8,741 people. Penalties are limited, and missing a jobs target for one year costs Tesla only that year's break.

Interim County Judge Daniel Wong abstained from the vote because his engineering firm has worked with Tesla. Fort Bend economic development director Carlos Guzman told ABC13 the county would have been eliminated from consideration without the agreements. The state must still approve the school-tax portion of the deal.