The issue previously came before the court Oct. 11 when the business was given 30 days to cure the default. The company, located on 8770 New Trails Drive, built its current facility in 2020 and was granted a 10-year tax abatement to reduce the amount it paid in taxes, Community Impact previously reported.
Tax Assessor-Collector Tammy McRae said the 10-year agreement consisted of 100% of taxes abated for seven years and the remaining three years reduced consecutively to 80%, 60% and 40% of taxes. The default occurred in the third year of the abatement, she said.
The company will be required to pay a recapture amount of $289,816, McRae said at the Nov. 15 meeting.
Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack said at the previous meeting Oct. 11 that the default related to the number of people on-site at the facility.
“They have not been able to meet the criteria of the number of people in the building; they’re doing a work-from-home protocol instead,” Noack said.
McRae confirmed in an email that was the issue behind the default.
“According to the terms of the agreement, Alight Solutions LLC was required to have 950 full-time employees that actually work at the facility,” McRae said in an email. “They reported the required number of employees; however, the majority of the employees were working virtually. The default occurred due to the employees not being physically located at the facility.”
Officials from Alight confirmed the work-from-home options for employees and said they are working to resolve the issue.
“Alight continues to retain our office space in The Woodlands and is proud to be part of the community and a major local employer for over 30 years,” said MacKenzie Lucas, vice president of communication for Alight Solutions, in an email. “We have continued to allow our colleagues the flexibility to work from home, which impacts our number of in-office workers. We are working with the tax authorities to amicably resolve this matter.”
According to The Woodlands Area Economic Development Partnership report from 2019, Alight Solutions had 1,850 employees and was the fourth-largest major nonretail employer in the region. As of a 2022 report, it had 1,530 employees and was the fifth-largest major nonretail employer.
Editor's note: The last name of MacKenzie Lucas was corrected from an earlier version of the story.
