School board approves Hy Fuels 313 application
At their meeting Thursday evening, the Big Spring ISD school board approved acceptance of an application from Hy Fuels Big Spring LLC for appraised value limitation.
The application, submitted under Chapter 313 of the Texas Economic Development Act, is often referred to simply as a “313 application”.
Appraised value limitation means the school district and Hy Fuels have negotiated a value for the company's holdings in BSISD, lower than the actual market value, upon which the BSISD will tax the company.
“It allows school districts to provide tax incentives to bring large capital improvement projects to increase your tax base in the long run while at the same time bringing some good jobs into your community,” said the district's attorney Fred Stormer during the meeting. “It's similar to an abatement, but it's not quite the same. It's actually a limitation on the valuation.”
Stormer said the company's actual local value is $428.5 million, but through the 313 process, BSISD would agree to tax only $30 million of that value for 10 years.
While the limitation affects the larger portion of the district's tax levy – the Maintenance and Operations tax, which includes all of the day-to-day running of the school district, salaries, maintenance of buildings, etc., the company would still pay tax based on the full $428.5 million for Interest and Sinking tax, which funds the district's interest on debt.
“So to the extent you guys have any debt, you're going to see some relief on the I&S side,” Stormer said.
Stormer said Thursday night's action was only to accept the application, not to approve it or enter into any agreement with Hy Fuels. The school board unanimously approved the measure.
At the start of the meeting, following the prayer and pledge, the school board recognized Big Spring High School's UIL Academic Team members who advanced to state competition.
The students included Marco Tan, who won state championships in both calculator and mathematics competitions; Jennifer Smith, who placed third in Literary Criticism; the school's Spelling Team, which placed second in State, and which included David Summers, Julianna Summers, Ana Villagrana, and Emily Kocak; and Ananye Limaye, who competed in editorial writing and calculator.
The board approved the meeting's consent agenda, including board minutes from its April 14 meeting, and financial reports.
The board voted to approve an increase in the standard application fee for appraised value limitation applications from $75,000 to $80,000, before approving the application from Hy Fuels as noted previously.
The board approved an agreement for Audit Services with Bolinger, Segars, Gilbert and Moss financial firm.
The board also approved a materials allotment and TEKS certification for 2022-23.
Following the superintendents' report, the board adjourned its meeting.