County still working on Apple deal

AUSTIN (KXAN) - The Travis County Commissioners Court on Tuesday didn't sign-off on a $6 million incentive package designed to help persuade Apple Inc. to expand its facility in Northwest Austin, but they did agree to continue negotiating a deal with Apple.

The incentive package is in the form of real estate abatements. Last week, the city of Austin approved $8.6 million in tax abatements. Earlier in the month, the state of Texas approved $21 million from its Texas Enterprise Fund.

Apple has not made a final decision about expanding its campus in Austin. Currently, 3,100 workers make up its local workforce, and the proposal calls for another 3,600 throughout the next decade.

• Read Apple's application to the Texas Enterprise Fund

Some commissioners have stated Apple might have decided to expand even without the economic incentives. The company already has a reported $100 billion in cash on hand.

The incentives were put forth in an effort to make Austin more competitive with other cities under consideration – like Phoenix. However, Arizona officials have been quoted in the past week as saying Phoenix was never really in the running.