The Oct. 11 agenda can be found here, and meetings can be livestreamed here.
Discussion on the items below is not guaranteed as commissioners have the authority to defer items to future meetings.
Open discussion: Tax abatement policy
The county’s tax abatement policy is set for a review by commissioners during the meeting’s open agenda. There are no documents attached to the agenda item suggesting a reason for the discussion.
According to the Texas Tax Code Chapter 312, tax abatements are an agreement between taxing units, such as Montgomery County, and taxpayers that exempts the taxpayer from the increase in value of property for up to 10 years. The Texas comptroller’s website describes tax abatements as tools to “attract new industries and to encourage the retention and development of existing businesses through property tax exemptions or reductions.”
According to a 2020 guidelines document available on the county tax assessor-collector’s website, the county has three economic abatement qualifications:
- The proposed abatement must be reasonably expected to increase taxable ad valorem tax value of at least $4 million based upon the Montgomery Central Appraisal District's appraisal of the eligible property.
- It must be expected to prevent the loss of jobs or retain, increase or create jobs on a permanent basis in Montgomery County
- It must not be expected to solely or primarily have the effect of transferring employment from one part of Montgomery County to another unless there is substantial threat of economic loss to the county.
Montgomery County granted an abatement on Sept. 13 to South Korean steel company Husteel America for a steel factory in Splendora. County Judge Mark Keough, who voted for the abatement after previously declining to act on an earlier version, said the company’s willingness to change its terms drove his agreement.
Two individual tax abatements are also set to be discussed at the Oct. 11 agenda. The county’s abatement with Bauer Manufacturing LLC is set to be terminated due to the company falling below the amount of required employees for the continued abatement, according to a court filing.
The second abatement, approved in 2019 among the county, The Woodlands Land Development and Alight LLC, is slated for proposed action. The item is also listed in the closed executive session on the Oct. 11 agenda.
