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Travis County approves $1.3 million in tax breaks for National Instruments

By Farzad Mashhood American-Statesman Staff

Travis County approved the third and final portion of $7.4 million in state and local incentives to support a 1,000-job expansion proposed by National Instruments in Austin over the next decade.

Travis County is giving $1.3 million in tax breaks to the company, or about 43 percent of additional property tax revenue that would be generated by the expansion project over 10 years, with commissioners approving it unanimously. Commissioner Margaret Gómez was absent from Tuesday’s meeting.

The average annual wage for the new jobs is $65,000, and the lowest-paid 10 percent of the workers would make about $40,000, according to the county. The building’s construction would provide an $11 an hour minimum wage for construction workers.

“I fully support this application. I am no lover of these sorts of deals, but in this respect, National Instruments has come before us and met every aspect of the economic development policy that we put forward in November,” Commissioner Sarah Eckhardt said.

On Thursday, the Austin City Council unanimously approved $1.7 million in breaks and the Texas governor’s office has said it has agreed to back National Instruments’ expansion with $4.4 million from the Texas Enterprise Fund.

http://www.statesman.com/news/busine...eaks-fo/nWqJJ/