Greater Greenspoint Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone

Greenspoint is known for its partnerships, and business development is no exception. The Greenspoint District has the expertise and contacts necessary to offer valuable developer incentives.

The District made great strides toward adding value to doing business in Greenspoint when it worked to create Greenspoint's Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ). The Zone is a powerful vehicle developers are now using to maximize their investment in this area.

The Greater Greenspoint Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone facilitates development and redevelopment projects, and their project plan expects to invest $250 million over a 30-year period, which will increase the overall value of Greenspoint commercial property. The Zone offers incentives for developers to build or redevelop in Greenspoint and upon project agreement, can reimburse them for the public amenities they include in their projects. Streets, parks, public plazas, lighting, landscaping and streetscaping are all crowning touches to a development that may be reimbursable. For more detailed information on TIRZs and how they work, click here.

Freeport Exemption

Another developer incentive is the Freeport Amendment to the Texas Constitution. This tool allows local taxing authorities the option to exempt from ad valorem property taxes certain tangible personal property transported out of the state of Texas within 175 days. In order to qualify, these personal property items must be detained in Texas for assembling, storing, manufacturing, fabrication, or for processing purposes. The items must leave the state of Texas within 175 days from the date that they were acquired or brought into Texas.

The law provides that counties, cities, towns, school districts and junior college districts may opt to continue to tax these items. Aldine and Spring independent school districts currently offer the exemption. The city of Houston offers the exemption. Harris County Flood Control District, Harris County Hospital District and the Port of Houston Authority also offer the exemption.

You can find additional information on Freeport and other exemptions from the Harris County Appraisal District.

Malcolm Baldridge Foreign Trade Zones

A foreign trade zone is an area located in or adjacent to a U.S. Customs port of entry. Greenspoint businesses that import products through the Port of Houston can benefit from this zone. Merchandise placed in the zone is considered to still be in international commerce and outside U.S. Customs territory. No customs entry is necessary to admit such merchandise, and it is exempt from customs duties, excise taxes and most import restrictions until it is moved from the zone into U.S. commerce. Houston’s foreign trade zone consists of 13 general-purpose sites and 11 sub-zone sites in Harris County.

For more information website on Foreign Trade Zones, visit the Port of Houston Authority website

Tax Abatements

The Houston area offers a variety of incentives to support economic development. Companies with new, expanding, and relocating operations may be eligible for property tax abatements. In order to be eligible, 25 jobs must be retained or created, the investment must be $1 million or higher and the project must be competitively sited.

For additional information, visit the Harris County Appraisal District website.

Texas Product/Business Fund

 The Texas Product/Business Fund provides asset back financing to companies currently doing business in the state.  Financing is done in the form of direct asset based loans with a variable interest rate tied to London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR).  Loans can be amortized up to the life of the asset.  Texas companies or out-of-state/international companies doing business in the state are eligible to apply.   
Attributes of the Texas Product Fund:

• Asset based loans

• Competitive Loan-To-Value

• Positive EBITDA not required

• Secure loans with Property Plant & Equipment

Industrial Revenue Bond Program
This program provides long-term, low interest financing, up to $10 million, and is federally tax-exempt for fixed assets and soft costs secured by a bank Letter of Credit. Industrial Revenue Bonds may finance up to 100 percent of the cost of a project with minimum amount of $4 million. Tax-exempt bonds are exempt from federal income taxes and limited to manufacturing or other projects according to federal law, and must be issued by local industrial development corporations. Approval is required from the Texas Bond Review Board and applicants must receive approval from the Texas Department of Economic Development and the Attorney General’s Office.

Industry Development Loan ProgramSmall Business Skills Program
The Texas Industry Development (TID) Loan Program provides capital to Texas communities at favorable market rates. The main objective of TID is to support projects that will stimulate the creation of jobs. TID loans can be used for a variety of purposes including community infrastructure development. TID financing is available for loans above $5 million.

New Markets Tax Credit
The New Markets Tax Credit program is designed to encourage private sector investment in low-income communities by providing tax incentives to the private sector investor. Qualified businesses located in a distressed community may receive loans through this program.

Texas Small Business Fund
Administered by the Texas Economic Development Bank, this program provides financing to assist small businesses in Texas. The Fund is a revolving loan program with capital provided from $20 million in taxable bonds issued in 2005. Preference is given to “Growth Stage” companies in industry clusters within emerging technology fields including semiconductors, nanotechnology, biotechnology and biomedicine, renewable energy, agriculture, aerospace and small businesses that have received financing from Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) or the Small Business Innovative Research program (SBIR). Interest rates are generally lower than bank rates.

Workforce Solutions
Workforce Solutions (WS) can recruit, screen and refer qualified applicants for job openings. Space for interviewing, employer administered testing, and help with scheduling and coordinating tests and orientations is available at WS facilities or at the facility of employers. Workforce Solutions also can host quarterly job fairs, and they list and maintain job orders for companies in the local and national America’s Job Bank and America’s Workforce Network.   

Small Business Skills Program
Through the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) Skills for Small Business program, up to $2 million from the Skills Development Fund is dedicated to the backbone of Texas’s business community - our more than 433,000 small employers. Small businesses now can apply to TWC for training offered by their local community or technical college, or the Texas Engineering Extension Service (TEEX). TWC processes the applications and works with the college to fund the specific courses selected by businesses for their employees.  

Texas Enterprise Zone Program
The Texas Enterprise Zone Program is an economic development tool for local communities to partner with the State of Texas to promote job creation and capital investment in economically distressed areas of the state.

Natural Gas & ElectricityTexas Franchise Tax Exemption and Deductions – Wind and Solar Energy 
Texas companies are exempt from paying state sales and use tax on electricity and natural gas used in manufacturing, processing, or fabricating tangible personal property.  The company must complete a “predominant use study” that shows that at least 50% of the electricity or natural gas consumed by the business directly causes a physical change to a product.

ElectricityTexas Franchise Tax Exemption and Deductions – Wind and Solar Energy 
Tax Code Section 171.056 extends a franchise tax exemption to manufacturers, sellers, or installers of solar energy devices.  The state also permits a corporate deduction from the state’s franchise tax for renewable energy sources.  Business owners may deduct the cost of the system from the company’s taxable capital or deduct 10% from the company’s income.