The Fort Worth Independent School District has approved an economic development agreement with a company that makes solar panels.
The Hanwha Q Cells Americas Holdings Company is considering a site in Tarrant County for a new manufacturing facility. The plant would cost about $1.3 billion and create a large number of high-paying new jobs.
"It is going to be somewhat transformative for the western quadrant of the Fort Worth ISD as well as the eastern part of the Aledo ISD, so it will significantly enhance development and economic activity," said attorney Kevin O'Hanlon, who worked with the Fort Worth ISD on the agreement. "They're going to have workforce needs, so they're going to be interested in partnering with us and everybody else they can find in order to help them train techs for this."
The agreement was negotiated under the Texas Economic Development Act, also called Chapter 313. It allows school districts to offer businesses property tax savings for a period of ten years to promote large economic development projects. If the company chooses to build its project in Tarrant County, it will be required to make direct payments to the Fort Worth ISD of a portion of that amount to protect the district from any financial harm. In this case, those payments would total $27 million over a ten year period.
Chapter 313, also known as the Texas Economic Development Act, allows businesses to build or expand their facilities in exchange for a 10-year limitation on their taxable property value. Chapter 313 also allows school districts to share in the benefit of these large-scale economic developments by negotiating a percentage of the tax savings to be paid to the district and ensure it is protected against any financial harm.
Hanwha is considering other locations for the manufacturing facility. If it chooses the site in Tarrant County, the company could break ground in the middle of 2023. That would put the plant on schedule for testing in 2024 and commercial operations at the end of 2025.
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