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BROWNSVILLE — Some listeners slouched further into their hard wooden chairs as the public comment period grew tense in Cameron County Commissioners Court on Tuesday.
After about three hours, more than 20 statements opposed a 95%, 10-year tax abatement for an Austin-based defense technology company that is interested in building a $3.2 billion, next-generation shipyard called “Port Alpha” at the Port of Brownsville.
Twelve people spoke in support of the tax abatement for Saronic Technologies, which included local city and economic development officials.
By the end of the discussion, commissioners chose to table any action on approving the item until all were present in-person. Pct. 2 Commissioner Joey Lopez was present over video call for the meeting and Pct. 3 Commissioner David A. Garza was absent.
They were considering a property tax abatement request that concerns “new ship and boat manufacturing facilities for military and commercial use, including four phases and related infrastructure.”
“At the moment, those 4,000 acres are generating little to no tax revenue for Cameron County,” Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño Jr. said of the reasoning behind approving tax incentives.
Saranoic Technologies, which applied for the tax abatement, has secured a $392 million production contract from the Navy and have proposed the possible construction of a shipyard for building uncrewed, autonomous maritime vessels at the Port of Brownsville.
Saronic has said it is “developing a growing family of ASVs,” including its six-foot Spyglass, 14-foot Cutlass and 24-foot Corsair autonomous vessels, which the company describes as “highly mission-capable, interoperable with government and commercial systems, and scalable to meet strategic fleet requirements.”
The ships on the proposed “Port Alpha” would be larger vessels than the ones currently being made at its Franklin, Louisiana location, according to the Saronic presenters.
The Louisiana location has offered Saronic a 25-year, 100% tax abatement, commissioners learned during the meeting.
The proposed project site was initially considered within 4,387 acres on four different parcels owned by the Brownsville Navigation District (BND).
Saronic Technologies heads noted that the company was considering building its site on a 835.27 acre parcel on the south side of the ship channel.
The company claimed it was avoiding building on wetlands, but many public commenters claimed the company was “greenwashing” and endangering local plant and wildlife habitats.
Saronic is valued at over $4 billion, they’ve raised close to $1 billion in venture capital and they are investing in some of the most powerful institutions in the world, said policy researcher, Brownsville native, and former 34th Congressional District democratic candidate Etienne Rosas.
“Saronic isn’t just a company, it’s part of a network,” Rosas said, claiming that the company is part of the larger war industrial complex.
“The Rio Grande Valley as a story is one of rich, cultural and ecological one, not an industry sacrifice zone where experiments are left for billionaire design,” he continued.
People speaking in opposition of the speech repeated similar points about risks of having an AI warship-building port near SpaceX and liquefied natural gas plants. Many also stated they did not want their community to profit off of war technology. They consisted of law students and policy researchers like, members of organizations like the South Texas Environmental Justice Network.
Listeners raised signs that said “tax abatement” and cut out in a thumbs down gesture, others continued to line up to speak.
The Point Isabel ISD school board approved a tax abatement for the company in March, with the Superintendent Teri Capistran and board president Heather Scott being among the public commenters speaking in “100% support” of the tax break.
Scott noted that the board does not take tax abatements lightly, adding that the school board recognized the economic and educational opportunities that the company would bring to the Rio Grande Valley.
Officials who spoke in support included Brownsville Mayor John Cowen, Brownville Economic Development Corporation (EDC) and Harlingen EDC representatives, members of Workforce Solutions Cameron and more.
Sally Perez, chief program officer for Workforce Solutions Cameron, said that she is excited about the job opportunities “Port Alpha” would bring to the county and is ready to support them like any other business.
Many who spoke in support said that they had toured the Saronic facilities, to which one Saronic company head added its spaces are so clean he could eat off the floor.
Treviño asked the company if it would still be looking to do the project at the Port of Brownsville if the tax break was not approved.
“This is a competitive process and this is part of our selection criteria,” said Saronic Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Douglas Lambert. “California, Virginia are currently in the running.”
Treviño said that he had known the county was in competition with Solano County in California, but not Virginia. Lambert confirmed to the judge that the area in Virginia “is currently part of the shipbuilding industry.”
Meanwhile, two audience members were asked to leave by Treviño if they did not stop interrupting him. Officers approached them as they walked out.
“I’ve never heard you guys in the opposition ever say ‘Here’s this other alternative to us, that we’ve got presented to us, that is also a $3 billion investment and 10,000 jobs,’” he said.
“There’s a reason why there’s an article now about Brownsville or Cameron County or the Rio Grande Valley that doesn’t start off with ‘the poorest city,’ ‘the poorest county,’ ‘the poorest region.’”
Though a 95% tax abatement is a lot, he continued that if the company does not come here, then the Valley is not getting benefits and that these decisions are not easy.
After the meeting, Vice President of Global Expansion and Integration for Saronic Technologies Natalie Wiegard said that the team would be back when commissioners make their final votes.