An amendment to an appraised value limitation between the Taylor Independent School District and Linde Inc. was presented at the Monday, Sept. 16, board meeting.
As part of Chapter 313 of the Texas Tax Code, “an appraised value limitation is an agreement in which a taxpayer agrees to build or install property and create jobs in exchange for a 10-year limitation on the taxable property value for school district maintenance and operations tax purposes,” according to the Texas Comptroller’s Office.
Linde supplies ultrahigh purity industrial gases for Samsung Austin Semiconductor’s latest facilities.
The amendment comes after two structures were seen being constructed on the company’s property, leading to Linde’s request for the limitation start date to be pushed forward from 2028 to 2026, officials said.
The company itself did not notify the school district of the construction. After school officials noticed the structures, the district’s consultants — Moak Casey and O’Hanlon, Demerath & Castillo — contacted Linde.
The consultant’s point of contact was unaware of any construction occurring, but the consultants continued their inquiries, officials were told. Eventually, Linde’s external tax consultant confirmed there was construction and requested an amendment to the agreement, officials said.
“I knew there was stuff out there way before,” school board President Marco Ortiz said at the meeting.
Ortiz asked the district consultants if they knew why Linde had neglected to tell the school district about the construction. The consultants attributed it to miscommunication within the company.
“Their internal people were just unaware, I suppose,” Molly Hanley, a consultant with O’Hanlon, Demerath & Castillo, said to Ortiz. “Or the person they assigned to (us) was unaware. But they should be on the ball now.”
The amendment did not change the values of the property listed by Linde.
However, the revenue protection payment changed — from an estimated $1.9 million to $1.4 million — by the school district’s 20% tax compression from when the application was initially submitted in 2022.
The consultants predicted the tax would continue to compress.
In addition, the amendment and tax compression did change the tax savings the company would receive — from a total savings of $10.18 million to $8.2 million.
“So it decreased the company’s tax savings because your tax rate went down,” Kathy Mathias, executive director of Economic Development at Moak Casey, told trustees. “But the values haven’t changed. They’re just shifting when.”
The next steps include sending the amendment documents to the superintendent for acknowledgment and having the Comptroller’s Office recertify the project’s eligibility. Then, an updated agreement will be presented to the board for approval.
