Fort Worth City Council approves tax abatement agreement with MP Materials for Alliance-area project

Fort Worth City Council approved a seven-year tax abatement agreement with Las Vegas-based MP Materials Corp. for a 200,000-square-foot magnetics manufacturing facility.

The measure was unanimously approved at the Jan. 25 council meeting.

“To facilitate the project, the city of Fort Worth wishes to enter into a tax abatement agreement with the company based on a proportion of the incremental value of business personal property at project site,” said Kelly Baggett, innovation coordinator with the city’s Economic Development Department.

The project’s centerpiece is the manufacturing facility that will be constructed in the AllianceTexas development at 13840 Independence Parkway. When finished, this plant will produce enough magnets to power about 500,000 electric vehicles per year as part of a long-term contract the company has with General Motors, documents show.

As part of the agreement with Fort Worth, MP Materials will invest $40 million in construction at the site by Dec. 31, 2023, and bring an additional $60 million in business personal property to the project. The company will also create at least 30 full-time jobs at the start with an average annual salary of more than $80,000 with the potential for more than 90 jobs at full operation, according to city documents.

The tax abatement for real and business personal property at the site is capped at $2.76 million, per the agreement. The city of Fort Worth is expected to earn $1.8 million in ad valorem taxes from the project over that seven-year period.