SpaceX expansion November 9, 2026 · Starbase · Explainer

What Starbase's Dec. 9, 2026 vote on a SpaceX tax break can and can't do

Starbase's City Commission meets at 7 p.m. CT Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2026, at 48491 State Highway 4 to consider a property tax abatement agreement and "a related economic development agreement" for SpaceX's proposed gas-fired power plant and "super-compute facility." The city's notice (PDF) puts the initial phases at "approximately $24 billion" (our Nov. 6, 2026 story). The city hasn't published either agreement, and nothing has been approved. Texas law sets the outer limits.

• How long: a Texas city can exempt "a portion of the value" of property from its taxes "for a period not to exceed 10 years," if the owner makes specific improvements (Tax Code § 312.204).
• The vote: an abatement needs "a majority of the members" of the commission "at a regularly scheduled meeting" (§ 312.207). The notice calls Dec. 9 the commission's "regularly scheduled meeting."
• City taxes only: the county and other eligible taxing units may sign their own deals with the owner, and the terms don't have to match the city's (§ 312.206). School districts can't sign these abatements on or after Sept. 1, 2001 (§ 312.002).
• The second agreement: Chapter 380 lets a city run economic development programs, "including programs for making loans and grants of public money and providing personnel and services of the municipality" (Local Government Code § 380.001). The notice doesn't say what this one would provide.
• Why the price is public: the law requires the notice to list "the estimated cost of the improvements" at least 30 days before the vote (§ 312.207). This notice went up Nov. 6, 2026, 33 days ahead.

Why it matters: the share of value exempted and the number of years decide how much city tax the project would not pay. Those numbers will be in the agreement, not the notice. The notice says "Interested persons are invited to attend the meeting and to be heard on the proposed agreements."

What's next: we'll post both agreements when the city publishes them.

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Sources: City of Starbase, Notice of Public Hearing, posted Nov. 6, 2026 (PDF) · Texas Tax Code, Chapter 312 · Texas Local Government Code, Chapter 380 · Xinhua, Nov. 9, 2026 · NASA, CHAPEA Mission 2 · NASA, Nov. 8, 2026 · Tanagra Space · SpaceX, USSF-627

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