A total of $900 million in economic investments were proposed by the company.
Trustees voted 3-3 to accept the application, meaning that the motion failed. Place 4 Trustee Cory Vessa recused herself from the vote due to conflict of interest, and the "no" votes came from Place 1, 2 and 7 Trustees Jun Xiao, Mary Bone and Danielle Weston.
Trustees did not indicate why they voted the motion down. It is unclear whether this application may be brought before the board again, according to district staff.
Place 3 Trustee and Board President Amber Feller spoke in support of increasing domestic manufacturing ahead of the vote.
Representing the company, Sara Leon and Michelle Alcala of Leon Alcala PLLC., told the board that Toppan Photomasks sought a total value limitation of $100 million for management and operations, $773 million for interest and sinking for a set period of time and would bring 250 manufacturing jobs to the area.
If not Round Rock, Leon said the company would seek another location outside of Texas.
Under the 313 Taxable Value Limitation application, the district would have been reimbursed for any revenues lost under these abatements over time, Leon said.
An investment of this size would also go toward reducing the district's recapture—excess local tax revenue paid back to the state—but it is unclear how much, Leon said.
Chapter 313 applications were not renewed as part of the state tax code during the last legislative session, and will be phased out Dec. 31, 2022.
