PORT ISABEL — The Point Isabel school board unanimously rejected an application for a $160 million tax abatement for Texas LNG Brownsville LLC on Monday night.
“At this time, it did not benefit the district in the way that we felt would outweigh some of the concerns brought by the community members,” School Board President Heather Scott told news outlets.
Texas LNG, which is building a $4 billion liquefied natural gas facility, applied for the state comptroller’s Taxable Value Limitation on Eligible Property under the Texas Jobs, Energy, Technology and Innovation Act.
TEXAS LNG PRESENTATION
The meeting began with a presentation from representatives of Texas LNG.
The project has had extensive environmental review, said Holly Reed, principal and practice leader for Ryan LLC.
The state and federal agencies that reviewed the project include the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the U.S. Department of Energy and more, according to Reed.
“Let me put your mind at ease that there will be zero methane emissions,” she continued. “And no water will be pulled from the port or admitted into the port.”
The presentation was unclear as to how there would be zero methane emissions and where water would be pulled from.
The project will have a much lower gas production capacity compared to that of Rio Grande LNG and is marketed as “green by design,” according to the company.
The export facility sits near the Rio Grande LNG project also under development in the Port of Brownsville.
Reed displayed a map to show the facility’s distance from a larger part of the community. Texas LNG plans to build the project 2.34 miles south of H-E-B.
“The Texas comptroller has reviewed all of the plans and all of the financials and also deemed that it is a positive economic benefit for the community and for the state,” she said.
The specific Taxable Value Limitation application requires it to be reviewed by the comptroller before it is taken up for discussion with the relevant school district.
VALLEY RESIDENTS RESPOND
During the board meeting, local activist groups passed out fliers.
The South Texas Environmental Justice Network’s co-founder Bekah Hinojosa passed out flyers titled “Point Isabel ISD: No Tax Break for Texas LNG”.
From “Texas LNG plans to bulldoze an Indigenous historic site” to “LNG storage tanks would be three times the height of Port Isabel Lighthouse,” the flyer listed reasons to oppose the Point Isabel ISD tax abatement.
When you consider that all of this is to be shipped offshore and sold, LNG makes it sound like they’re processing rosebuds, which is not the case, said surf shop owner and father of a student at Port Isabel High School and former South Padre Island City Council member Kerry Schwartz.
“We’re getting raw natural gas that’s piped in,” he said.
Before the gas gets liquefied, it has to be cleaned, which means that toxins are released into the atmosphere, Schwartz said.
With the Environmental Protection Agency gutted, he said, it means there is less oversight.
“There’s so many factors that need to be looked at,” Juan Macias, who spoke during the public comment, said after the vote.
He said he wants the community to be involved in these decisions to better understand why and how companies can intimidate with false marketing.
SCHOOL BOARD VOTES
“I move to reject the resolution to proceed with the JETI agreement with Texas LNG Brownsville LLC,” said board member Maritza Pena Hoffman.
The vote was seconded and then unanimously passed.
Members of Border Workers United, Valley Interfaith and other coalition groups applauded.
Point Isabel ISD has a history of voting against different tax abatement applications for LNG projects, including against a Chapter 313 tax abatement program for Texas LNG in 2022.
“A yes vote would have delivered an additional $15 million per year to the Point Isabel ISD,” a Texas LNG spokesperson stated.
“There is no economically rational benefit for this vote, which should be about how to benefit students,” the spokesperson said, adding that they are at a loss at how school board leadership could have made such a decision.
“Based on all the numbers presented to us, we didn’t feel that the district would be receiving any economic benefit that would not otherwise be seen even if they decide to come,” said Scott, the school board president.
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