Arlington Council To Vote On GM Expansion Tax Break

ARLINGTON (CBSDFW.COM/KRLD) - The Arlington General Motors plant may get a tax break that could bring a major plant expansion.

Monday night the Arlington City Council is set to vote on whether or not to give GM a tax break as incentive for the company to pick the Arlington plant for expansion.

The tax break would include a 90-percent tax abatement.

"Our potential plans call for an approximate $250 million investment in machinery, tooling and equipment and an expansion of the existing body shop facility," plant manager Paul Graham said last week during a Tarrant County Commissioner's Court meeting. "The investment has the potential also to add 110 jobs."

If the Arlington council approves the tax break it would save GM more than a million dollars a year. But Graham stressed, "It is important to note the that final determination will be based on the overall business case for the project."

Supporters of the tax break say the $13.5 million expansion would put the Arlington plant in a position to "build the next generation of SUVs."

There is competition within GM to win the plant expansion.

The GM Arlington plant has more than 2,300 employees.