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By Amanda Greenwood
Associate News Editor
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Elon Musk’s space company, SpaceX, is seeking a property tax break for a proposed $24 billion data center and power plant in Starbase, Texas, where two of the three City Commission members set to consider the tax break are current SpaceX employees, according to the city's own records.
Musk's plans involve constructing, owning, and operating what the city's hearing notice describes as a "gas-fired power plant and super-compute facility." SpaceX expects to invest around $24 billion in the project's initial stages, with the development potentially expanding further into the future, the notice states.
The approximately 444-acre project site is within Starbase's city limits and falls within the Cameron County Enterprise Zone, making it eligible for consideration for a property tax abatement under Texas law.
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Two of Three Commissioners Work for SpaceX
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However, the makeup of the three-member commission considering the proposal raises questions about SpaceX's close relationship with the city and its local government.
Robert "Bobby" Peden, the city's mayor, currently serves as Vice President of Texas Test and Launch at SpaceX, according to his official biography on the City of Starbase website. He has worked for the company for more than a decade, joining in 2013, and moved to Starbase in December 2023 to oversee the testing and launch operations.
Commissioner Jordan Buss is also employed by SpaceX. The city lists him as the company's Senior Director of Environmental, Health, and Safety. He joined SpaceX in 2023 and was elected to the inaugural Starbase city government in May 2025.
That means two of the three members of the commission that is scheduled to consider SpaceX's tax abatement are employed by the company making the request.
The third member, Commissioner Lois Wallace, doesn’t work for SpaceX, according to her city biography. She works remotely conducting clinical trials for a pharmaceutical company and has lived in Starbase since 2022.
What Tax Break Is SpaceX Seeking?
The city's public notice doesn’t state the value or duration of the proposed property tax break. It just says that the commissioners will consider an agreement under Chapter 312 of the Texas Tax Code alongside a related economic development agreement under Chapter 380 of the Texas Local Government Code.
The hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. on December 9 in Starbase, with “interested” members of the public invited to attend and speak about the agreements.
Starbase, on the southern tip of Texas, describes itself as the newest city in the Rio Grande Valley and as a launch site where "humanity’s future in space [is] unfolding in plain view.”
SpaceX's Existing Investment in Starbase
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The proposed tax break follows a 2014 tax abatement agreement between Cameron County and SpaceX to encourage the company to establish operations in the county.
By 2024, Cameron County said SpaceX had invested more than $3 billion in infrastructure at Starbase and employed or contracted more than 3,400 people there. It’s worth noting that those figures were supplied to the county by SpaceX.
Newsweek has contacted SpaceX, Peden, and Buss for comment.
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Ben Kelly and Cristina Diciu.
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