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SAVANNAH — The local economic development agency that worked with Georgia officials in recruiting Hyundai Motor Group to build a $5.5 billion electric car plant near Savannah approved its portions of the deal Tuesday, though details of tax breaks and other incentives have yet to be disclosed.
Bulloch County is part of the four-county Savannah Harbor Interstate-16 Corridor Joint Development Authority that was created to attract a manufacturing plant to the Mega Site. Bulloch, Bryan County, Chatham County and Effingham County make up the Joint Development Authority.
The Authority helped negotiate the deal that will give up hundreds of millions in taxes in exchange for at least 8,100 jobs Hyundai has promised to create. Officials said they won't release details of the incentives package until the state and Hyundai finalize the deal, possibly later this week. The Mega Site is located near Ellabell, off Interstate-16 Exit 143
“I think it's very fair, I think it's very equitable,” Trip Tollison, who heads the Savannah Economic Development Authority, said of the deal. “I think it represents what the region needs to make the company — the folks moving here with all the jobs — successful.”
Republican Gov. Bryan Kemp called the project the largest economic development deal in Georgia's history when it was announced two months ago in Bryan County, where Hyundai plans to build the company's first U.S. plant dedicated to electric vehicles. The automaker plans to start construction next year and begin producing up to 300,000 vehicles per year in 2025.
State officials have said that the incentive package would be similar to the $1.5 billion in tax breaks and spending given to Rivian Automotive, which is planning an electric vehicle factory east of Atlanta.
The top item in that Rivian package was $700 million in property taxes waived by local governments over 25 years. The company agreed to make $300 million in payments in lieu of taxes starting in 2023. The four-county Authority voted Tuesday on how money from Hyundai's payments in lieu of taxes would be shared, but did not release how much projected tax revenues are being waived or how much Hyundai will pay.
Tollison, who works with the joint development authority, said Bryan, Bulloch, Chatham and Effingham counties must still approve the revenue-sharing agreement. He said Bryan County would get the majority of the money, but that other counties would share in revenue because they are putting up money to buy land and build roads, and also will see growth from the deal.
With the Mega Site only about five miles from the Bulloch County line, local officials believe the southern Bulloch area will see significant population growth by the time the plant opens in 2025.
In May, County Manager Tom Couch said US Census projections showed the Nevils-Stilson area growing by as many as 4,000 people by 2030 prior to the Hyundai plant announcement.
“We think the growth will occur in the Southeast Bulloch area, primarily Brooklet to the south toward the Bryan County line,” Couch said. “Bulloch County will be an attractive option for workforce housing and spin-off business growth as the Savannah Metro area continues to saturate.
“I think that we will have accelerated population growth in this area of Bulloch County. We have to be prepared and we have initiated studies on future land use and infrastructure.
“Our biggest challenges will be managing growth, infrastructure and balancing the tax base with new business and industry so our cost of services don’t go upside down. I’m not prepared to say we will have Pooler or Richmond Hill growth, yet, but the impact will be visible and felt by mid-decade.”
One major benefit for Hyundai will be an income tax credit worth an estimated $213 million. That's based on the credit of $5,250 per job over five years that Georgia offers for its largest development projects. If Hyundai didn’t owe that much state corporate income tax, Georgia would instead give the company personal income taxes collected from Hyundai workers.
Hyundai is also likely to save hundreds of millions of dollars from sales tax exemptions on machinery and construction materials.
State and local officials already spent $61 million to buy 2,200 acres (890 hectares) for the project site in Bryan County. The partners later bought another 700 acres (283 hectares) but haven’t disclosed how much the additional land cost.
The authority approved a $65.7 million contract Tuesday to clear the land. It also approved a contract to design an entrance road.
Kia, another subsidiary of the Hyundai Motor Group, got more than $450 million in incentives for its plant in West Point, southwest of Atlanta. Georgia has promised SK Innovation $300 million in incentives for a $2.6 billion, 2,600-worker battery plant that the Korean company is building northeast of Atlanta.