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Brown County Commissioners took the first step in the process under the Property Tax Abatement Act, Tax Code Chapter 312 by adopting guidelines and criteria for governing tax abatement agreements.
Commissioners Gary Worley, Joel Kelton, Wayne Shaw and Larry Traweek voted to approve adoption of the guidelines and criteria put in place for possible future tax abatements. County Judge Paul Lilly opposed the adoption, the livestream recording of the meeting said.
“It’s always good to have rules and criteria in place; however, … I’m against any kind of abatement at the county level, so I will be voting ‘No’ on the adoption,” Lilly said.
The vote followed a public hearing in which people spoke about the proposed construction of a solar power plant by Intersect Power of San Francisco for southwestern Brown County. No action on taken on that issue.
Consultants Allison, Bass & McGee, LLP advised that guidelines and criteria be established “even if we didn’t want to approve an abatement for solar or wind or anything else,” Worley said. The criteria are for any industry wanting to come into Brown County or any industry that wants to expand.
“In the criteria…we have the right to approve or disapprove any application that’s put before us,” Worley said. “As the judge said a while ago, and I said earlier, we’re not approving a tax abatement at this time. We are setting guidelines and criteria. That’s it. … by establishing these guidelines and criteria, we’re letting people know that we would consider tax abatements for certain industries, and it would be approved on a case-by-case basis.”
Rules are now set to facilitate negotiations that can determine “perhaps what kind of more favorable terms for an abatement could be established, looking at it from the county side,” Kelton told West Central Texas News.
“I’ve always been a very conservative during my time as a county commissioner and always try my best to understand the issues and apply common sense to my decisions,” Kelton said. “This is one of those issues that either way I vote in the end, it won’t make everyone happy, but I will have done my best to make an informed decision for the county as a whole, not just county government or a select few individuals.”
Cities, counties and special districts use tax abatements as economic development tools “to attract new industries and to encourage the retention and development of existing businesses through property tax exemptions or reductions,” the Texas Comptroller’s website said. “A tax abatement is a local agreement between a taxpayer and a taxing unit that exempts all or part of the increase in the value of the real property and/or tangible personal property from taxation for a period not to exceed 10 years."
The guidelines and criteria Brown County Commissioners adopted “are effective two years from adoption and can be changed with a three-fourths vote of the governing body,” the “Step-By-Step Abatement Process” said. “A taxing unit with a website must post the adopted guidelines and criteria online."