makes sense, especially after $137M court order over restroom graffiti
[deleted]
Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin
181–190 of 691 posts
Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin
#182Earlier quoted context omitted.
Corp taxes low, cost of living low (for now), HEAPS of open space (important for Tesla), UT Austin's compsci program (which is ranked) provides a good pipeline, engineers from the Bay are moving to Austin at an increasingly high rate, and demographics are shifting more progressive. I think the writing is on the wall for tech in CA honestly
If the demographics of Texas is really shifting more progressive, then the writing could also be on the wall for Republican presidential campaigns. Perhaps at that point the party will suddenly find itself again embracing the wisdom of the proposed Lodge-Gossett constitutional amendment, which got as far as approval by a super majority in the US Senate in 1950. https://www.nationalpopularvote.com/analysis-fractional-…
Why would Democrats support that?
Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin
#183Earlier quoted context omitted.
This being Texas, I suppose Austin has fewer restrictions on new development, so housing prices may be less crazy. To say nothing of taxes, which leave more of your wages to pay the rent.
> which leave more of your wages to pay the rent. Austin has crazy property taxes in comparison to CA, which is where they get you. 2.5% tax rate evaluated for the property prices annually, so retiring on a fixed income in Austin is a tiny bit harder than in CA (that's the real goal of Prop 13). Income taxes are easier to think about, because it goes to zero when your income drops, but property taxes based on the unr…
> the superior option for an owner
Agree with you, but I would guess most of the Gigafactory workers who haven’t exercised stock options probably can’t afford to own in the Bay Area.
While Prop 13 probably filters down to renters in reduced rent, the supply/demand issues for housing is still pretty out of whack even with all of the new units in Milpitas. Also Prop 13 has second order effects that keep older empty nester boomers in a large house even though they would otherwise downsize if they didn’t lose such a generous benefit.
Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin
#184Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think the exodus from California to Texas is overblown. The choice is between Earn above average salary and enjoy good weather, politics, and outdoors. Earn a median salary and enjoy okay weather and lower taxes.
What do you mean by average vs median salary here?
Poor wording on my part. I meant to say the average salary is much higher in California than in Texas.
For example, here is Tech: https://i.imgur.com/rHBVWRt.png
Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin
#185Earlier quoted context omitted.
As someone who just bought a house in Austin this year, if the reason is "affordable housing", they're in for a world of hurt.
Property taxes are higher than California, right? I can't find the source handy at the moment, but I've heard that a house in Austin that looks like a couple hundred grand cheaper than an equivalent house in California for the listing isn't actually any cheaper when you factor in the increased taxes and potentially other costs I'm not aware of.
The question is whether the equivalent house is just a couple hundred grand cheaper, or a million cheaper? Couple million maybe for a nice new mansion?
Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin
#186California's tax regime is really backward. I suspect Tesla's departure is just the tip of the iceberg and that the repeal of the SALT deduction in 2017 really hastened this trend. High earners pay an effective tax rate of > 50%. They are partially picking up the slack from Prop 13, which artificially distorts the housing market by allowing longtime homeowners to pay property taxes based on decades-old assessed value…
> High earners pay an effective tax rate of > 50% How so? I put a salary of $300k in SF here, and came up with 38%: https://smartasset.com/taxes/california-tax-calculator#c0piT... . Obviously Fremont workers do not need to live in SF.
From that calculator, it seems that you need to be making $2.3M in Fremont, CA to get to 50%.
Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin
#187The official reason is because of housing: "To be clear we will be continuing to expand our activities in California," Musk said. "Our intention is to increase output from Fremont and Giga Nevada by 50%. If you go to our Fremont factory it's jammed." But, he added, "It's tough for people to afford houses, and people have to come in from far away....There's a limit to how big you can scale in the Bay Area." https://ww…
Article on the commute some Tesla workers make, getting up at 2:30am. https://www.protocol.com/silicon-valley-tech-shuttles
I temporarily lived out in Sacramento, and commuted occasionally to MP. This is not bad compared to some others, but seeing stationary brake lights getting on the highway at 4am was something else
Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin
#188California's tax regime is really backward. I suspect Tesla's departure is just the tip of the iceberg and that the repeal of the SALT deduction in 2017 really hastened this trend. High earners pay an effective tax rate of > 50%. They are partially picking up the slack from Prop 13, which artificially distorts the housing market by allowing longtime homeowners to pay property taxes based on decades-old assessed value…
> High earners pay an effective tax rate of > 50% How so? I put a salary of $300k in SF here, and came up with 38%: https://smartasset.com/taxes/california-tax-calculator#c0piT... . Obviously Fremont workers do not need to live in SF.
Put in 3 M$/yr and you'll get 50.7%.
Not a lot of people hitting that regularly, but I imagine it can sting a little if you've got a more proletarian salary normally and are hitting that region just once because of say, a start up liquidity windfall
Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin
#189Earlier quoted context omitted.
I mean, you could just as easily argue that the problems of California are what caused his move to Texas, as simply testing the waters for the move of the HQ.
The main problem for musk in this case being his tax burden, since he is otherwise entirely insulated from every other issue affecting most californians.
His tax situation really has nothing to do with it. If he sells his Tesla shares, he's still going to owe CA tax. But he never has to sell any Tesla shares, he can just buy hedges against them and take out loans. If you have sufficient capital assets, you never have to actual earn any "income" or generate any "capital gains" if you don't want to.
Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin
#190Earlier quoted context omitted.
As someone who just bought a house in Austin this year, if the reason is "affordable housing", they're in for a world of hurt.
I talked to several Tesla and former Tesla folks that will probably relocate because of this, and the say is that since Austin in less NIMBY than the Bay Area new housing will get built and prices will go down. It's a more complex bet than just "we move there because houses are affordable now".
I'm not sure why they think Austin is less NIMBY. That hasn't been my experience.