PACCAR Inc., the company that builds Peterbilt trucks at its plant on Airport Road, wants the city's backing for a state sales-tax refund linked to about $59 million in planned upgrades there, according to documents posted for a city advisory board.
The Economic Development Partnership Board takes up the request at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 14, in Training Rooms 3, 4 and 5 of the Development Service Center, 401 N. Elm St. Staff recommend that the board advise the City Council to nominate PACCAR as an Enterprise Project under the Texas Enterprise Zone Program. The council would vote Oct. 27, according to the staff presentation.
Two projects
The larger piece, about $34 million, would go toward a new manufacturing cell during 2028 and 2029 to support the next-generation Model 520 truck. The staff report says the Denton plant now builds some Model 520 components while others are made in Mexico, and the new cell would let the plant produce more of the truck on site and raise Model 520 output.
Another $25 million or so would be spent through 2031 to expand existing product lines across the plant, which staff say would improve production flow and safety.
PACCAR has roughly 1,900 full-time workers at the 455,000-square-foot plant, making it the city's largest private employer, the report says. The company expects to keep that headcount; the projects are not expected to add jobs.
What the nomination would do
The state program lets companies apply for refunds of state sales and use taxes on qualifying spending, based on their investment and the jobs they create or keep. For a project of this size, the staff presentation puts the cap at 500 jobs at $2,500 each, or up to $1.25 million.
In return, PACCAR would commit to filling at least 25% of new or turnover positions in the certified jobs with people who are economically disadvantaged, live in an enterprise zone or are veterans, according to the staff report. Staff list no fiscal impact to the city.
