Biennial Reports and Other Abatement Reports

NOTE 1: This spreadsheet relates to all information that was submitted to the Comptroller, received by our office, and inputted into the database concerning data found in form 50-275 (new and/or re-designated reinvestment zones, form 50-276 (approved abatements) and form 50-277 (modified and/or cancelled abatements). The information captured from form 50-275 can be found on the “Reinvestment Zone List” excel spreadsheet. Information captured from form 50-277 can be found on the “Cancel-Modify Abatement List” excel spreadsheet. Because the size of form 50-276 is significant and all the information could not be captured and shown in one readable spreadsheet in the 2022 Biennial, hence this information was broken into two reports – “Abatement List Part 1” and “Abatement List Part 2.” Below is a description of each of the headers for “Abatement List Part 1” and “Abatement List Part 2.”

NOTE 2: All other relate to information submitted by a local government that created a reinvestment zone and provides an abatement to a business that are reported on form 50-276.

Abatement List Part 1

Zone Name (Column A)

Name of reinvestment zone submitted by the local government.

Lead Taxing Unit (Column B)

Name of taxing unit that not only created a reinvestment but also initiated an abatement agreement with an individual and/or business.

Participating Taxing Unit (Column C)

Name of taxing unit that agrees to participate in approving an abatement or abatement package after the lead taxing unit has initiated an abatement approval process with a specific business and/or individual.

Term (Years) (Column D)

The number of years the abatement is approved for with a maximum of 10 years identifying the state date, end date and all years in between while active.

Creating New Zone/Re-Designating Zone (Column C)

Identifies whether the lead taxing unit creates a new reinvestment zone which would last for five years or redesignates the reinvestment zone to continue in existence for another five years.

Zone Size (Column D)

When a reinvestment zone is created or redesignated, the zone’s size in terms of acreage is reported. If no zone size is provided by the reported agency, then a cell may read as NR = No Response.

Abatement Year (Column E-N)

An abatement percentage as agreed upon by each taxing unit (lead and participating) and the business for a specified number of years not to exceed 10 years.

Property Owners (Column O)

Name provided as to who owns the property within the reinvestment zone and is receiving the abatement from the local government entity.

Property Account Number (P)

These are alpha-numeric in nature and are assigned by a Central Appraisal District (CAD) to each individual piece of property or individual lot to track the status and value or each of the properties.

Property Type (Column Q)

The type of property to be abated: commercial/industrial, residential or both.

Growth Expansion (Column R)

Reason expressed by business receiving the abatement why they are wanting to do business in a local jurisdiction of Texas or within Texas: expansion, created new business, from out-of-state and locating in Texas, or relocating within Texas.

Business Type (Column S)

Checked off by the local government entity regarding type of business to receive an abatement: commercial, hotel retail, energy, manufacturing, banking, industrial, medical, research and wholesale.

Business Size (Column T)

Size of business to receive the abatement: Micro (0-19), Small (20-99), Medium (100-499), Large (500+).

Physical Structure (Column U)

Business receiving the abatement has a structure that is new or existing.

Improvement Type (Column V)

These are found on the form under the question “Type of Improvement.” “True” indicates one of these items were check marked and “False” was left blank. A check mark to any of these types of improvements suggest what the business plans to do in the community upon reaching abatement agreement terms.

Abatement Execution Date (Column W)

Date when an abatement is formally approved my majority vote of a governing body and/or when the abatement is signed by both parties (taxing unit and business).

Abatement Effective Date (Column X)

Date when an abatement takes effect on the date when the agreement is signed or approved by the governing body, or any time afterwards as designated in the agreement.

Abatement Expiration Date (Column Y)

Date when an abatement expires as identified in the agreement.

Status (Column Z)

Status of an abatement agreement, whether it is assigned (an active agreement), modified (active agreement that has been modified), expired (if the abatement agreement term has run its term and has concluded), and canceled (if the abatement agreement has ended when one or both parties to the agreement decide to end the agreement early prior to its projected ending date conclusion for whatever the reason).

Abatement List Part 2

Zone Name (Column A)

Name of reinvestment zone submitted by the local government.

Lead Taxing Unit (Column B)

Name of taxing unit that not only created a reinvestment but also initiated an abatement agreement with an individual and/or business.

Participating Taxing Unit (Column C)

Name of taxing unit that agrees to participate in approving an abatement or abatement package after the lead taxing unit has initiated an abatement approval process with a specific business and/or individual.

Property Owners (Column D)

Name provided as to who owns the property within the reinvestment zone and is receiving the abatement from the local government entity.

Base Value (Column E)

Value of all property combined within a reinvestment zone at the time of the abatement being executed.

Job Creation (Column F)

Response if the abatement agreement addresses new employment positions being created in one or more years during the period of the abatement agreement being in effect. Answers can be: Y = Yes or N = No.

Employment Years (Column G)

Years identified by the lead taxing unit as to when new employees would be hired as per the agreement. If no year(s) are given, then a cell may read as NR = No Response.

Old FTEs/Year (Column H)

Information reported regarding new “full-time employees/year” that were reported on Comptroller forms prior to 2018. If no FTEs were provided by the reported agency, then a cell may read as NR = No Response.

New FTEs Required (Column I)

Information reported since 2018 regarding new “full-time employees/year” that is more thorough by breaking out the number of FTEs each year of the abatement, if applicable. If no FTEs were provided by the reported agency, then a cell may read as NR = No Response.

Old Payroll $ (Column J)

Information reported regarding new “payroll dollars” that were reported on Comptroller forms prior to 2018. If no payroll dollars were provided by the reported agency, then a cell may read as NR = No Response.

New Payroll $ (Column K)

Information reported since 2018 regarding new “payroll dollars” that is more thorough by breaking out the dollar value of payroll dollars each year of the abatement, if applicable. If no payroll dollars were provided by the reported agency, then a cell may read as NR = No Response.

Property Value $ Abated (Column L)

Estimated payroll dollars created according to the agreement including the total value abated on abated property for each year of the agreement. If no response is given by the reporting agency regarding the estimated amount of “property value dollars abated” each year while the abatement agreement is in effect, then a cell may read as NR = No Response.

Other Incentives Offered (Column M)

Inquires if other incentives are a part of the abatement agreement. Other incentives may include but not limited to grants, loans, job training assistance, other tax incentives. If no other incentives, the respondent answers “None.” If no information about incentives were provided by the reported agency, then a cell may read as NR = No Response.

Total Value of Incentives (Column N)

If the respondent did select a choice in the question above regarding if “other incentives were offered”, then the respondent is to provide the dollar amount value of those “other incentives” given. If no information about incentives were provided by the reported agency, then a cell may read as NR = No Response.

Clawback Provisions Included (Column O)

Inquires if the local taxing unit providing the abatement to the business, if they have a “clawback provision” in the agreement whereby the lead taxing unit can reclaim some portion of abated dollars, other incentive dollars if the business fails to meet some type of measure (such as number of jobs, amount of new payroll, capital investment in the property, etc.) If no response is given by the reporting agency regarding if a clawback provision is included in the abatement agreement, then a cell may read as NR = No Response.

Status (Column P)

Status of an abatement agreement, whether it is assigned (an active agreement), modified (active agreement that has been modified), expired (if the abatement agreement term has run its term and has concluded), and canceled (if the abatement agreement has ended when one or both parties to the agreement decide to end the agreement early prior to its projected ending date conclusion for whatever the reason).

This updated file contains several spreadsheets containing different aspects of reinvestment zones and abatements as authorized under Tax Code, Chapter 312. Each spreadsheet contains hundreds of reinvestment zones, abatements and expired abatements that are being reported to the Comptroller office as required by statute. These spreadsheets contain the exact same format and information as seen in the 2022 Biennial Report but are in an electronic format – made easy to conduct searches and sorts. The spreadsheet titled “Reinvestment Zones” has details exclusively about all known and reported reinvestment zones throughout Texas such as when the zone was created, if and when the zone was re-designated, zone size, name of the taxing unit creating the zone and the type of reinvestment zone established.

It is important to note that “Abatement List Part 1” and “Abatement List Part 2” spreadsheets have cells that contain multiple pieces of information. The following columns in “Abatement List Part 1” contain such cells: participating taxing unit(s), term (years), and abatement years 1-10 The following columns in “Abatement List Part 2” contain such cells: employment years, old FTEs/year, new FTEs/year, old payroll dollars, new payroll dollars, and property value dollars abated. EXAMPLE: If there are three participating taxing units listed, then there should be three pieces of information provided in each of the listed columns. The first name of the taxing unit will correspond to the first number or first other piece of information of each of those other cells in those respective columns. And accordingly, the second and third taxing unit name will correspond to the second and third pieces of information in each of those other cells in those corresponding columns.

These reports are dependent upon the local governments answering all questions so these reports can be as complete as possible. In some instances, the local government left certain question blank, hence certain cells are shown as blank. In other instances, some cells are shown as NR (no response) given (written) by the local taxing unit making the submission, or a response of NA (not applicable) is given because one scenario is applicable but not another scenario (such as they report jobs created in the old FTE database hence there is no need to report FTEs using the new FTEs database.

The “Abatement List Part 1” contains numerous but not all the pieces of information about an abatement that has been approved. NOTE: The other pieces of the “approved abatement” are found in “Abatement List Part 2”. Items that can be found on “Abatement List Part 1” are: zone name, lead taxing unit name, participating taxing unit name, duration of the abatement (“Term”), percentage of abatement given each year (Abatement Years 1-10), property account number (account number assigned by the CAD), property type, growth type, business type, physical structure, improvement type, execution date, effective date, expiration date and the status of the abatement.

”Abatement List Part 2” contains many financial aspects about the abatement and/or details of the economic development agreement the business receiving the abatement may be willing to commit to the community such as: zone name, lead taxing unit name, participating taxing unit name, base value (value of the property at the time of the abatement), job creation (committed to this or not), employment years (years new jobs are created), Old FTEs/Year (old CPA database reporting FTEs), New FTEs/Year (current CPA database reporting FTEs), old payroll dollars ($) (old CPA database reporting payroll of new FTEs), new payroll dollars ($) (current CPA database reporting payroll of new FTEs), property value dollars abated (each year), other incentives offered, total value of incentives, clawback provisions included and the status of the abatement.

The “Canceled-Modified Abatement List” contains the following pieces of information: zone name, lead taxing unit, participating taxing units, property owner (business receiving abatement), base value (value of the property at the time of the abatement), modified/canceled abatement execution date, modified/canceled abatement effective date, modified/canceled abatement expiration date, reasons of the abatement being modified/canceled, if recapture of abatement dollars was applicable, taxing units that are recapturing, recapture dollars amount (collected), recapture percentage (%) of total property tax abated, ISD name (located within the zone), and status of the abatement agreement.

The last spreadsheet in this excel file pertains to expired abatements regarding “post abatement property valuations.” This spreadsheet contains some basic background info about the expired abatement, but the key pieces of information reported compare the value of the property at the time when the abatement was executed to the value of the property in the three successive years after the abatement’s expiration. This report organizes each expired abatement by CAD that is reporting the paperwork and to make finding the information simple. Information reported includes the name of the lead taxing unit, type of taxing unit (city or county) as the lead, duration of the abatement (when it was active), date of abatement’s expiration, abatement type, types of improvement (new construction, furniture/fixture purchase, current facility renovation, new machinery equipment, current facility retooling/upgrade), post abatement reports filed, fiscal year report being filed, and property account number as abated property as assigned by the CAD.

This updated file contains two spreadsheets containing background information about a Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) and the annually reported financial information about a TIRZ as required by Tax Code, Chapter 311. Each spreadsheet contains information about four hundred TIRZs as required by statute. These TIRZ spreadsheets contain the exact same format and information as seen in the 2022 Biennial Report but are in an electronic format – made easy to conduct searches and sorts.

It is important to note that cells in the following columns contain multiple pieces of information: participating taxing units, tax increments, term by taxing unit, and status. EXAMPLE: If there are three participating taxing units listed, then there should be three pieces of information provided in each of the listed columns. The first name of the taxing unit will correspond to the first number or first other piece of information of each of those other cells in those respective columns. And accordingly, the second and third taxing unit name will correspond to the second and third pieces of information in each of those other cells in those corresponding columns.

These reports are dependent upon the local governments answering all questions so these reports can be as complete as possible. In some instances, the local government left certain question blank, hence certain cells are shown as blank.

There are two other things to note. First, there is a “total” for within each grouped county list of TIRZs that adds all the TIF fund balance, revenue, expenditures, debt, total tax increment base value, total captured appraised value and total taxable appraised value. The adds up the amount in each of these listed columns, for all reported TIRZs within a specific county. At the bottom of this spreadsheet is a “grand total” that adds up all the totals within each county.

Second, there are five columns titled as such: “Sub-Zone 1” Tax Base Value, Captured Appraised Value, and Taxable Appraised Value.” If a city adds or annexes additional acreage into an existing TIRZ, then each additional increase of acreage is considered a “sub-zone.” Each sub-zone including the “original sub-zone that was initially created are to have these three values determined separately. When each sub-zone total is added, these totals should add up to the “grand totals” for columns U-W (total tax increment base value, total captured appraised value, and total taxable appraised value) when all the acres of these sub-zones are added as one entire TIRZ.

The spreadsheet titled “TIRZ Zone Info” provides details about all known and reported TIRZs throughout Texas. This information is provided by the lead taxing unit only one time when the TIRZ is created. TIRZs created by various cities are grouped on this spreadsheet by county name in alphabetical order. Information captured on this spreadsheet are: TIRZ name, appraisal district name, lead taxing unit (entity that created the TIRZ), participating taxing units, tax increments agreed to by those taxing unit(s), TIRZS effective designation date, TIRZs expiration date, TIRZs modified effective designation date, TIRZs modified expiration date, term by taxing unit (each participating taxing units agreed to term), duration (number of years participating in the (TIRZ), status of the TIRZ, ordinance submitted, latest annex (if zones paperwork has been submitted if additional property has been annexed into the TIRZ), project plan submitted, amended project plan submitted, financing plan submitted, amended financing plan submitted, TIRZ size (in acres), property type, public project improvements, zone boundaries changed and additional acres annexed.

The spreadsheet titled “TIRZ Financials” provides financially-oriented details for all known TIRZs throughout Texas. This information is provided by the lead taxing unit annually for the entire duration of the TIRZ. TIRZs created by various cities are grouped on this spreadsheet by county name in alphabetical order. Information captured on this spreadsheet are: TIRZ name, lead taxing unit name, participating taxing unit(s), tax increment, property type, public project improvements, abatements approved, TIF fund balance, revenue total, expenditures total, bond principal, bond interest, total debt, sub-zones 1-5, total tax increment base value, total captured appraised value, and total taxable appraised value.