SAMSUNG UTILITY PROVIDER
Officials: Taylor ISD to take big hit on tax bill
TONY CANTÚ
Special to the Press
GEORGETOWN — County commissioners expressed concerns this week after learning of the nonprofit status for a utility providing water treatment at Samsung Austin Semiconductor in Taylor — a move resulting in a $300,000 tax-revenue loss for a local school district.
Although no action was taken, members of the Williamson County Commissioners Court at their Nov. 5 meeting set aside time to discuss the issue, while suggesting the nonprofit status could be denied.
“
It doesn’t smell right.”
— Williamson County Commissioner Cynthia Long However, an official at EPCOR/Regional Water Supply Corp. told the Taylor Press the status is automatically granted thanks to the Legislature. And yet, a $557,859.26 tax bill from the county has already been sent to the water-treatment operator — a bill that could be rendered moot.
“I am concerned about what kind of corporate partner EPCOR is trying to be in Williamson County,” Precinct 4 Commissioner Russ Boles said.
“It doesn’t smell right,” added Precinct 2 Commissioner Cynthia Long.
Of five taxing districts that stood to benefit from the utility’s tax bill, the Taylor Independent School District is now poised to take the biggest hit, commissioners learned.
In a response to questions from the Press, county Tax Assessorcollector Larry Gaddess provided a copy of the tax bill for EPCOR/ Regional Water Supply Corp. showing an expected payment of $291,115.05 for the school district, based on this year’s tax bill — the first for EPCOR/130 Regional Water Supply Corp.
The city of Taylor is shown on the tax bill as the second-largest recipient of tax money, with $156,505.56 owed. Williamson County is third with $94,128.08.
While an outcome is pending, the issue yields a glimpse into corporate machinations, legislative workings and the limitations of local government in assessing taxes amid brisk industrial growth.
At their meeting, commissioners didn’t seem happy about their spot in the bureaucratic tangle.
For EPCOR USA spokesman Matt Atwood, the issue is rather straightforward.
In an emailed response to questions from the Press, he described EPCOR Services Inc. as an operator of water-infrastructure projects in conjunction with water supply corporations, or WSCs, having Chapter 67 status in Texas.
“For EPCOR, those partnerships with WSCs have operated assets in Texas since 2016,” Atwood wrote. “The WSCs having this status has allowed the timely development of critical water infrastructure that currently serves multiple municipalities around Travis County, the city of San Antonio and soon the industrial water facilities necessary for the Samsung semiconductor fabrication facility in Taylor.”
The spokesman noted the Legislature has made it possible for WSCs to own water-supply and water-reclamation projects.
“As a region’s water supplier for these entities, using available tax exemptions not only allows the construction and timely delivery of critical infrastructure, but also for the services to be provided at a reduced cost to customers,” he wrote.
Vital to Samsung
He said the partnership is critical to the development of the Samsung plant.
“It is no surprise that without these partnerships between private companies and WSC, historic investments into places like Taylor would not have been possible,” Atwood said.
As for the arrangement, the spokesman said 130 Regional Water Supply Corp. would own and EPCOR Services Inc. will operate the water supply and treatment facilities for Samsung (dubbed the Sandow Water Project) and the water reclamation facility (Blue Sky) for Samsung’s advanced semiconductor fabrication facility in Taylor — “... which will benefit the public, specifically Taylor and communities in and around Williamson County,” he added.
EPCOR gained a foothold in Texas with its 2016 acquisition of the 130 Pipeline Project, a 53-mile wholesale water supply pipeline that delivers groundwater from Burleson County to eastern Travis County in the northeastern Austin metropolitan area, as Water Online reported at the time.
EPCOR USA purchased 130 Pipeline for about $71 million, the company previously announced.
Based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, parent company EPCOR Utilities Inc. reported net income of $131 million for the three months ending on Sept. 30, a $13 million increase from the comparable period last year. For the nine months ending on Sept. 30, net income was $339 million — a $73 million jump from 2023.
For now, Wilco officials are turning to the Williamson County Appraisal District for guidance — including the tax assessor-collector.
“There is currently no exemption on the property,” Gaddess wrote before getting into the details of his tax bill. “The 2024 value only represents the partial construction of the facility as determined by WCAD. I can’t project a potential loss without knowing what the final value of the property might be. WCAD may be able to provide an estimate of the future value of the facility.”
Precinct 3 Commissioner Valerie Covey also has pinned her hopes on the appraisal district.
“I think the process would be the appraisal district determining if they (EPCOR) applied for an exemption, and I’m sure the appraisal district will do the right thing,” she said.
Gravell’s concerns
Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell expressed his own misgivings over the development.
“I’m just concerned because we as a court incentivized a major company (Samsung) to come here, and we believed as members of the court, it was the right decision because there would be various companies that would come as well and share in that tax burden,” Gravell said.
Nobody was told of EPCOR’s nonprofit plans as the county lured Samsung with economic inducements, Gravell suggested.
“I’m just concerned because we weren’t made aware of this by EPCOR that this was a path (on which) they were going,” he said. “I’m concerned because EPCOR is now alleging that it’s in their contract with Samsung, and they have to do this. I’m also concerned that our friends at Samsung didn’t make us aware of this. I’m concerned for our school district.”
It’s eminently more straightforward at EPCOR, as reflected in the spokesman’s response to a question related to taxation.
“130 Regional Water Supply Corp. is a nonprofit corporation with federal income and state tax exemptions,” Atwood wrote. “EPCOR, the operator, is a forprofit corporation subject to paying state franchise and sales taxes and federal income tax.”
As commissioners continue to ponder the matter, finger pointing — some aimed at the appraisal district itself — already has begun.
Samsung announced in November 2021 it was building a $17 billion chip-fabrication facility on Taylor’s southwest flank.
“I hope the appraisal district does the right thing,” Gravell said. “First, I’m concerned the appraisal district wasn’t even aware EPCOR was building in Williamson County. In fact, it was me notifying our general counsel, who in turn notified the appraisal district’s general counsel that we’ve got a company building a multimilliondollar facility. And members of the court: We’re not talking about a place that’s putting in a half-a-million dollar project. We’re talking about a place that’s perhaps putting up a multi-billion project in Williamson County.”
