Rivian’s plans to construct its 2,000-acre Stanton Springs production plant along the Morgan-Walton county line are projected to bring 7,500 new jobs to the area.
The $5 billion project is expected to create revenue within each of the counties in the Joint Development Authority, which includes Morgan, Walton, Jasper, and Newton. The JDA believes the electric vehicle production facility will have beneficial economic impacts for each of its counties, including Morgan.
In a recent article from Capitol Beat News Service, the state purchased 2,000 acres in an agricultural area where it plans to build an EV production plant, bypassing local zoning ordinances. The land was then leased to the JDA.
The authority then leased the land to Rivian Automotive for the site preparation and construction.
Ben Sheidler, a publicist for the JDA, spoke on the economic impacts that the production plant could bring to Morgan County.
He noted that, over the next 23 years, Rivian will be making payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT) to the JDA, and “then it will be taxed on the value of its real and personal property.”
“Rivian has already been paying their PILOT payments since 2023,” Sheidler said. “Over the next 23 years, we expect payouts from Rivian to the JDA to be over $300 million.”
The JDA was founded in 1999, according to its website, and subsequently created the Stanton Springs development project. Sheidler mentioned that Stanton Springs is divided into two portions, North and South, and Rivian inhabits Stanton Springs North.
“These PILOT payments will be exponentially higher than the revenue that these 2,000 acres generate,” Sheidler said. “The payments are distributed pursuant to the JDA’s Revenue Sharing Agreement, and the school districts of the four counties receive the bulk of the funds."
According to Sheidler, Morgan County will receive a combined total of $129 million in revenue from the Stanton Springs North and South developments.
The south’s non-Rivian portion will provide $86 million to Morgan County until 2048, after the payout process began in 2019. Stanton Springs’ Rivian portion will bring $43 million to Morgan County from 2025-2048, according to the publicist. “These [PILOT] payments [to the JDA] will be exponentially higher than the revenue that these 2,000 acres generate,” Sheidler said.
“The school districts of the four counties will receive the bulk of the funds.”
Morgan County’s School system, and the county in general, will split its total $129 million of revenue roughly 60-40. The county itself has already invested $1,596,238 toward the general Stanton Springs development.
Overall, Sheidler thinks that opposing residents are against the project for “a variety of reasons.”
He says that citizens are likely aware of the economic impacts from the Rivian Development but may not “necessarily care what the benefits are.”
“At the end of the day, I think what the Joint Development Authority, along with the state, is trying to do is create job opportunities and bring investment into the community to create jobs in high-tech or future-oriented industries,” Sheidler said. “A lot of counties around this state would kill for that kind of revenue to come in.”