Tax incentives to draw industry to the Coastal Bend have cost taxpayers in Nueces and San Patricio counties $2.47 billion, according to a study commissioned and recently released by the Coastal Alliance to Protect Our Environment.
CAPE is a coalition of local groups with a mission of protecting the environment and building a greener future. It is expected to release a second report by the end of the year on the area’s water supply and needs.
The analysis was performed by Canadian company Autocase and focused on 18 industrial companies in the Coastal Bend. It looked at the benefits these companies received from three tax programs enacted by the Texas Legislature:
- Industrial District Agreements
- Tax Code Chapter 312 – Property Tax Abatement Act
- Tax Code Chapter 313 – Value Limitation
Of the three, Chapter 313 accounted for $1.7 billion, which was 70 percent of the tax breaks granted. One company, Cheniere, received the largest tax break of $1.2 billion.
Chapter 313 offers industries a 10-year-limitation on their appraised property value for a portion of a school district’s property tax. In exchange, the industry or business agrees to build or install new property and create jobs in the school district.
The environmental group’s release comes at a time when Austin-based automaker Tesla has expressed interest in locating a battery-grade lithium hydroxide refining plant in Robstown and requested tax breaks from the Robstown Independent School District via Chapter 313. The Texas Comptroller’s Office has the final say on a school district offering incentives and has not yet weighed in, although it has received Tesla’s application. Chapter 313 is set to expire at the end of the year. The 87th Legislature failed to extend it in 2021.
To read the full text of the study, go to the WePayTheyProfit.com website, which is sponsored by CAPE, Texas Campaign for the Environment Fund, and Chispa Texas.
chuck@thepicayune.com