TAYLOR, Texas — Samsung is expanding in Central Texas, with plans to add more land to its $17 billion semiconductor campus in Taylor and a proposal to build 11 new chipmaking facilities in the Austin area.
According to a report from Community Impact, the Taylor City Council recently approved adding two parcels of land at the site to its two tax increment reinvestment zones (TIRZs) that cover the area.
Taylor's city manager said Samsung purchased this land after the company and Gov. Greg Abbott announced Samsung would be building the Taylor facility last November.
Community Impact reports that the additional properties, located in the northeast and southeast portion of Samsung's campus, bring the total area for the two TIRZs to 1,268.23 acres.
The tech giant is also considering building 11 new chipmaking facilities in the Austin area, according to documents filed with the Taylor and Manor school districts that were posted on the Texas comptroller's website.
Those documents show the move could lead to nearly $200 billion in new investment and create more than 10,000 jobs.
Samsung is seeking tax breaks for building the facilities as part of the state's Chapter 313 incentives program.
Two of the proposed facilities would be in Austin, where Samsung already has an existing operation, and account for $24.5 billion in investment and 1,800 new jobs. Nine of the manufacturing hubs would be built in Taylor. The total investment would be $192.1 billion, the documents say.
Those facilities could be up and running by 2034, but two of them aren't projected to be operational until 2042.
The 6 million-square-foot Taylor Samsung plant will be located south of Highway 79 and southwest of Downtown Taylor, near Taylor High School. It is expected to bring 1,800 jobs to Williamson County.
That plant is expected to start operations in 2024. The City of Taylor, Williamson County and Taylor ISD all already have economic agreements in place related to Samsung's development.
“I am excited about Samsung’s potential expansion in the region that could exceed $184 billion in Williamson County. Our working relationship is strong and our future is bright. We are grateful to Samsung for partnering with us to be a leader in the technology industry as the home to potentially the largest semiconductor facility in the world. We are proud to provide this critical infrastructure for national security by producing semiconductors here in the United States. We also are excited for what these agreements could mean for the children of Taylor and Taylor ISD,” said Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell.
Gov. Greg Abbott issued a statement on Wednesday about the potential investment.
"Close partnerships with companies like Samsung – who recognize the boundless possibilities Texas has to offer – are bringing greater opportunities to Texans, and this potential investment will bring billions of additional capital to continue growing our world-class business climate and diverse, highly-skilled workforce," Abbott said. "These new facilities solidify the Lone Star State as the nation's leader in the semiconductor industry, and I thank Samsung for increasing their investment in the hardworking people of Central Texas."
To learn more, read Community Impact's full report.
Central Texas Interfaith, a coalition of 50 religious congregations, schools, unions and civil organizations that address public issues, released a statement opposing the Chapter 313 incentives Samsung applied for.
"The Texas Comptroller’s Office just released the details on eleven Chapter 313 corporate welfare applications that Samsung Electronics Co, Ltd. quietly submitted to Manor and Taylor ISD’s on the night of the Uvalde shooting. All told, Samsung is asking for $4.8 Billion in school district tax abatements for projects it admits it has no current plans to build, promising only 275 “qualifying jobs” over the next 30 years in total, at a cost to taxpayers of a staggering $17.5 Million per job. This shameful grab at nearly $5 Billion in potential school funding comes at a time when districts are struggling to retain teachers and staff and when hardworking families are hurting yet receiving no such tax breaks. Just as shameful is the fact that Governor Abbott is lauding what would be the biggest taxpayer giveaway in Texas history, robbing billions in potential school funding, and that Comptroller Hegar is even considering certifying it."
"Central Texas Interfaith (CTI), its Texas Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) sister-organizations, allies, and a bi-partisan group of legislators fought successfully to stop the reauthorization of the failed Chapter 313 program in the last legislative session. The program proved to deliver little in terms of taxpayer benefit, good jobs, and accountability. Since the current legislation doesn’t expire December 31, 2022, companies like Samsung have rushed to submit over 400 applications before the deadline in the hopes of securing taxpayer-funded giveaways decades into the future. For example, one of Samsung’s applications is for a project that it says it might start building in 2029, but wouldn’t be fully operation until 2043! We call on Comptroller Hegar, Manor ISD, and Taylor ISD to reject Samsung’s applications for taxpayer handouts. In this period of tight budgets and skyrocketing costs of living, our families work hard and pay their taxes. We call on Samsung, whose revenues are currently rising at a rate of 15% per quarter, to do the same."
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