A $136 million tax abatement to help persuade General Motors Corp. to build the Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric car at the Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly Plant won approval today from the Detroit City Council.
The abatement, which lasts 25 years, clears a hurdle toward GM’s proposed $336 million investment in the plant, which employs 1,944 people.
The council approved the measure on a 7-1 vote. Only Councilwoman JoAnn Watson voted no.
Even with the tax break, the company would still generate an additional $4.6 million a year in tax revenue for the city and Detroit Public Schools, said Irvin Corley Jr., the council’s fiscal analyst.
“As many jobs as we can get in the City of Detroit, I’m happy to keep,” Councilwoman Barbara-Rose Collins said. “These are terrible times.”
Watson said she voted no because the Detroit Three automakers are on the verge of receiving $25 billion in federal loans to aid them, and giving GM a tax break now doesn’t sit well with her.
“We certainly support jobs and General Motors,” she said. “The timing is not optimal.”
GM aims to introduce the Volt by late 2010 if the battery technology can be developed.
The vehicle would be assembled at the Detroit/Hamtramck plant. Last week, GM announced plans to spend about $380 million to build a plant in Flint to manufacture 1.4-liter engines for the Volt and the Chevrolet Cruze, another vehicle that’s to debut in 2010.
The Michigan Economic Growth Authority has approved tax credits; Flint, Pontiac and Bay City approved tax abatements to ensure GM manufactures the Volt and its key components in Michigan.
GM says it is engineering the Volt to drive 40 miles gas-free on a fully charged battery before it switches to a gas generator. The generator would allow the vehicle to drive using an electric motor for several hundred more miles.
In other business, the council unanimously approved holding a closed session to discuss the lawsuit against the city of a former employee of Council President Monica Conyers. The employee, Yakima Washington, sued for the $90,000 she said the city promised in an out of court settlement. A confidential Law Department memo said Washington was about to report that Conyers had asked her to conduct personal errands on her behalf when Conyers fired her.
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