Chapter 313 abatements were created to entice businesses to relocate to Texas and entities across the state have issued hundreds since 2001.
Just a few weeks after the Texas legislature declined to renew the state’s property tax abatement program for school districts, Troy ISD looks to consider a $135 million tax break for the Big Elm Solar project under “Chapter 313.”
“Chapter 313” is an economic development program within the tax code, trading taxable property value for promised job creation. It’s a decade-long tool provided to school districts intended to attract jobs to their districts.
The project’s parent companies — Austin-based High Road Clean Energy and Virginia-based Apex Clean Energy — and Troy ISD applied for the Chapter 313 process last year with the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.
A 3,000-acre plot of land, Big Elm Solar plans to install 18-foot-tall solar panels on 1,400 acres and leave the rest undeveloped. The project is estimated to have a generation capacity of 200 megawatts (MW) per year — 1 MW can power between 200 and 500 homes depending on the time of day. Per the contract, it must be operational by March 2022.
Those 3,000 acres were appraised at $155 million by the comptroller’s office.
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