To qualify for tax abatement, a data center must be an authorized facility and the project must be reasonably expected to produce at least $15 million in positive net economic benefit to Jack County over the abatement term.

A data center's full-time employment requirement is determined case by case by the Commissioners Court, rather than through a fixed minimum stated in the guidelines.

The project may not be expected to primarily transfer employment from one part of Jack County to another, unless the Commissioners Court approves a variance.

The project must be necessary because the required capacity cannot be provided efficiently using existing improved property.

An application for a reinvestment zone and tax abatement cannot be approved after construction, alteration, or installation of the taxable improvements has begun.

Applicants must pay a nonrefundable $1,000 application fee, and the Commissioners Court may impose additional fees for more complex requests.

Tax-abatement applications are subject to public-hearing procedures, including at least 30 days' advance agenda posting for the Commissioners Court hearing and at least seven days' advance newspaper publication and notice to affected taxing units for a reinvestment-zone hearing.

A data-center owner receiving abatement is wholly responsible for County roads and rights-of-way damaged or requiring maintenance or reconstruction because of construction, maintenance, or operation; the County may track and invoice those costs.

A project accessed directly by a County road must obtain a County driveway permit and promptly submit the required application, with associated permit costs.

The County may deny a reinvestment zone or abatement if the applicant lacks sufficient financial capacity, the project would substantially adversely affect government services or an affected taxing jurisdiction's tax base, or the proposed use would create a public-safety, health, morals, code, or legal problem.

Recipients must give preference and priority to local manufacturers, suppliers, contractors, and labor unless doing so would cause added expense, substantial inconvenience, or a loss of operating efficiency.

During the abatement term, County representatives may inspect the data center, and the recipient must file annual compliance certifications; the County must annually evaluate the facility for violations.

The abatement agreement may terminate and previously abated taxes may be recaptured if the facility ceases operations for more than one year during the abatement period, defaults and fails to cure within 60 days, or becomes delinquent on undisputed taxes owed to a taxing authority in the County.

A tax abatement may last no longer than 10 years or one-half of the improvement's productive life, whichever is shorter, and the abatement cannot begin before the January 1 valuation date immediately following execution of the agreement.

Land, inventories, supplies, vehicles, residential property, deferred-maintenance investments, and most movable personal property are ineligible for abatement, so those categories remain fully taxable.

The guidelines remain in force for only two years unless amended or renewed, although existing abatement agreements are not affected by nonrenewal.

Data Center Facilities are expressly listed as authorized facilities, making them eligible to seek reinvestment-zone designation and tax abatement.

A qualifying project may receive an abatement for up to 10 years or one-half of the improvement’s productive life, whichever is shorter. The abatement percentage and terms are set in the approved agreement, and the County Commissioners Court determines the amount in its discretion.(period not to exceed 10 years)

The abatement may cover the added value of eligible new property, including buildings and structures, fixed machinery and equipment, site improvements, office space and related fixed improvements, and other real or tangible personal property allowed by Chapter 312.(Eligible Property) Land, inventories, vehicles, housing, and several other categories remain fully taxable.

Existing data-center facilities may qualify when improvements are made for modernization or expansion; if an existing unit is replaced, the abated value is generally the value of the new unit minus the value of the old unit.(Abatement may be granted for new facilities and improvements to existing facilities)

The employment requirement for Data Center Facilities is determined case by case by the Commissioners Court rather than being fixed at the general minimum.(Full-time employee creation requirements for Data Center Facilities)

The County may negotiate a tax-abatement agreement to compete favorably with other communities, allowing project-specific financial terms beyond a fixed standard schedule.(reserves the right to negotiate a tax abatement agreement)

Applicants may request variances from the guidelines in writing, and the Commissioners Court may approve them by a three-fourths vote; an approved abatement agreement that differs from the guidelines is treated as granting a variance, if permitted by Chapter 312.(Requests for variance)

The County will use best efforts to execute an approved abatement agreement within 45 days after receiving the necessary information or approving the application, whichever is later.(best efforts to cause such agreement to be executed within forty-five (45) days)

An abatement agreement may be transferred to a new owner or lessee of the same facility with Commissioners Court approval, subject to the assignee’s financial capacity and assumption of the agreement’s obligations.(an abatement agreement may be transferred and assigned)

Proprietary information obtained by the County to monitor compliance with an abatement agreement is treated as confidential.(All proprietary information acquired by the County)

The guidelines’ two-year sunset or later amendment does not affect existing tax-abatement agreements, protecting approved data-center abatements from being eliminated solely because the guidelines expire or are changed.(such actions shall not affect existing abatement agreements)