An Incentive Package Worth US$292 Million
The Independent School District (ISD) of Taylor City in Williamson County, Texas, has recently approved an incentive package to attract Samsung Electronics’ US$1.7 billion chipmaking plant.
Taylor ISD trustees decided on Nov. 15 (U.S. local time) to give a total of US$292 million in tax reduction incentives if Samsung Electronics builds its foundry in the city, according to a report by the Austin Business Journal, a local media outlet in Texas.
Taylor ISD has decided to offer such incentives by reducing the property tax to be imposed on the Samsung foundry.
Samsung Electronics has been discussing incentives with Williamson County, Taylor City, and the Taylor City ISD separately regarding its investment. Earlier in September, Williamson County and Taylor City approved tax benefits for Samsung Electronics. This time, the Taylor ISD endorsed the incentives.
Taylor is a small city in central Texas, about 40 kilometers away from Austin, where Samsung has been operating a foundry. As incentive negotiations between Austin and Samsung were prolonged, Taylor City appealed to the Korean semiconductor giant with a more generous incentive package, emerging as a frontrunner in competition to attract the investment.
Samsung Electronics filed a request for tax benefits with Austin before Taylor, but has yet to receive approval from Travis County, Austin, and the Manor ISD. Recently, Samsung's application for tax reduction and exemption presented to Manor ISD has disappeared from the official website of the State of Texas. As a result, some analysts say that Samsung Electronics has leaned toward building its new foundry in Taylor. However, Samsung Electronics still says that it is still reviewing multiple candidate sites.