Katy Area EDC among group of economic developers to visit with Texas Senator Lois Kolkhorst
27 Feb 2019
South Central Texas economic developers took time out from their bi-annual state legislative meeting to visit Senator Lois Kolkhorst at her Capitol office on Thursday, February 21. Senator Kolkhorst represents 21 counties in the Texas Senate, which include Economic Development Corporations located in Brenham, Cuero, Gonzales, Katy, Victoria, Wharton, and Yoakum.
The group discussed several issues, including the need for adequate funds for our public schools as well as the issue of property taxes. For economic developers, our state's exceedingly high property taxes make the renewal of the state tax abatement law, referred to as Chapter 312, one of the top legislative priorities. These abatements are granted on only new construction or significant improvements, and never on land value. Under current law, abatements are negotiated with a business at a local level, typically lasting ten years, and often include a sliding scale.