Reinvestment Zone

On July 27 the Commissioners Court threw out Leon County’s tax abatement rules and adopted new ones. I read the old and the new side by side. Parts of the rewrite are a genuine improvement, and I’ll get to those. But six things came out of our rules that day: The twenty-job minimum The requirement that half the new hires live in Leon County The step-down schedule that shrank the tax break year by year The rule barring projects that create adverse impacts on adjacent properties The rule barring projects that pose a hazard to public safety The requirement that the project wouldn’t have been built here anyway Every number an applicant could actually fail is gone. ...

There’s a new application sitting in the County Judge’s office, and it’s a big one. Crusoe Technologies, LLC — a Denver company — wants Leon County to carve a piece of Precinct 3 into a reinvestment zone and grant it a property tax abatement to build an AI data center campus. Multiple buildings, electrical substations, banks of backup generators. The works. They’ve put a number on it: $34 billion at full build-out. That number does a lot of heavy lifting in this application, so I read the whole thing — alongside the county’s own abatement rules — to see what we’d actually get in return. The short version: not much, and they’re asking for more than our rules allow. ...

Leon County has responded to a Texas Public Information Act (PIA) request dated January 7, 2026, regarding communications involving certain county officials and identified entities for the period June 1, 2023 through the present. Summary of what the letter says The county acknowledges receipt of the request and states it conducted a reasonable search for responsive records. The county says some responsive records are being withheld under exceptions to disclosure, including: Attorney-client privilege (Texas Government Code §552.107) for confidential communications involving legal counsel. Economic development information (Texas Government Code §552.131), related to ongoing or prospective economic development negotiations. Internal advice and deliberations (Texas Government Code §552.111) connected to policymaking and decision-making processes. The letter specifically states that some withheld information involves discussions and negotiations related to: Potential tax abatements Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOTs) Reinvestment zones Other incentive-related matters The county indicates it has requested a ruling from the Texas Attorney General to determine what may be withheld and what must be released. Non-exempt information, and any additional information required after the Attorney General’s ruling, will be released later. Why This Matters Public statements from county leadership have suggested that no tax abatements or incentive deals are being pursued. This letter confirms that the county is withholding information specifically because it relates to active or prospective negotiations involving abatements and incentives. ...

A Reinvestment Zone is a defined geographic area created by a local government to make a property eligible for certain economic incentives, most commonly tax abatements under Texas law. A reinvestment zone does not reduce taxes by itself, but it is a required first step before a county can even consider a tax abatement. What a reinvestment zone does (in simple terms) Think of a reinvestment zone as turning a switch from “not eligible” to “eligible.” ...