Bastrop, TX–Bastrop County commissioners today took the first steps toward granting a property tax break for a quaisi-state agency which is considering building a $65 million data center and control center next to McKinney Roughs west of Bastrop for most of the Texas electric power transmission grid.
Commissioners said a final vote could come Jan. 26 on a tax abatement which could amount to a few million dollars over the next 10 years. The county presently collects no tax revenue on the property in question because it belongs to the tax exempt Lower Colorado River Authority.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), a non-profit corporation which is governed by the Public Utilities Commission of Texas, a state agency, has a contract to buy roughly 40 acres on Texas 71 next to McKinney Roughs from the Lower Colorado River Authority. An application for the tax break put before county commissioners today says ERCOT plans to spend some $30 million for building and utilities, including fiber optic electronic data cable lines, plus $35 million for other equipment, to develop the site. The facility would employ about 15 people with an average salary of more than $85,000 a year, ERCOT says.
The commissioners also agreed to notify other affected jurisdictions of their “intent” to grant the tax abatement. The county’s action apparently would not affect the tax base of the Bastrop school district or the fire protection district whose territory also includes the proposed site.
ERCOT currently works from two centers, an executive and administrative building off Ben White Blvd. in east Austin and a control center in Taylor. A recent Bastrop-News.com post said the East Austin executive offices were slated for a move to Bastrop County, but a response from Dottie R