Austin’s revised incentive deal imposes hiring guidelines on Apple (Update: Travis County approves incentive)

[vodpod id=Video.16453376&w=650&h=350&fv=config%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.kvue.com%2F%3Fj%3D149630885%26amp%3Bref%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.kvue.com%2Fhome%2FIncentives-to-bring-thousands-of-jobs-to-Austin-149630885.html]

Update: A report from KVUE is claiming Travis County Commissioners approved the revised incentive deal at this afternoon’s meeting:

The last piece in the puzzle to one company’s effort to expand in Austin fell into place Tuesday afternoon… Travis County Commissioners approved an incentive deal for Apple on Tuesday. The deal has been on the table for a while.

The last time we reported on Apple’s ongoing negotiations with Austin officials to build a $304 million campus and bring over 3,600 new jobs to the city, reports claimed Apple was growing frustrated with delays in approving incentives from local Travis County. Travis would provide Apple with roughly $6.4 million of the total $36 million in incentives included in the deal, but the vote to approve the incentive was delayed due to “weak points” in the contract. According to a new report from Statesman, the Commissioners Court could approve a revised version of the incentive. However, the new deal would impose strict hiring guidelines on Apple:

A revised version of Travis County’s proposed incentive package to Apple Inc. sets a $35,000 minimum salary for the lowest-paid of Apple’s new Austin workers as part of a deal to bring 3,665 jobs to a planned North Austin campus… The county would require an average salary of $35,000 for the bottom 10 percent of Apple-employed workers and $11 per hour for contractors, who will account for up to 25 percent of their new workers… The deal still gives county staff the authority to extend a number of construction deadlines without consulting the Commissioners Court, but it remains firm that Apple needs to hire all 3,665 new workers by the end of 2025 and the first batch of 300 workers by the end of 2016.

As for Apple being frustrated and the deal remaining “in peril,” Judge Sam Biscoe told Statesman, “the Apple representative he has been negotiating with was not frustrated with the county.” We will update you here on the result of the vote following this afternoon’s meeting.

Related articles

• Apple frustrated with Austin incentive delays, new campus plans remain ‘in peril’ (9to5mac.com)
• Austin cements itself as Apple’s ‘second city’ with approval of $8.6M incentive (9to5mac.com)
• Apple waiting on city incentives for $304M Austin campus expansion, considering Phoenix instead (9to5mac.com)