With Texas having higher property tax rates, large industrial facilities are presented with a challenge when wanting to locate to the state. 

"In fact, major industrial facilities in Texas can pay some of the highest property taxes in the nation, amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars in increased operating costs over the many decades of facility operations," the Greater Houston Partnership stated. "These costs make it that much more difficult to recruit the very companies Texas needs: manufacturers, advanced energy, and large industrial projects. These facilities often offer among the highest-paying jobs in the nation."

In the Houston Metro area, the average manufacturing job pays $89,685. Other states are aggressively competing to win these projects which, according to the Greater Houston Partnership, makes reauthorization of Chapter 313 critical to the Texas economy and the Houston region. Chapter 313, the Texas Economic Development Act, is meant to attract these large businesses to the state to expand the property tax base with high-paying jobs. 

"As of September 2020, 545 of these projects are underway across Texas, with 104 in the 12-county Houston region represented by the Partnership," the Greater Houston Partnership wrote in the press release. "Per Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar, an estimated $183.7 billion has been invested in Texas as of August 31, 2018, and 12,498 jobs have been created."

This does not count the additional jobs created in those facilities along with the investments and jobs created by companies that came here to support awardees. Furthermore, companies receiving Chapter 313 agreements continue to pay sales taxes and other property taxes to all other local entities throughout the life of the project. 

The requirements of the application process help ensure awards only go to projects that would otherwise have located outside Texas.