Why did Taylor ISD's property value jump? (DRAFT – not published)

In short

• Taylor ISD’s property value went from about $2.6 billion in 2021 to about $9.4 billion in 2026. That is about 3.7 times as much (our math).¹²
• Most of the new value is not homes. Business buildings and business equipment grew the most. Home buildings barely changed.¹²
• The appraisal district’s top taxpayer in 2025 was Samsung Austin Semiconductor, a chip plant company in Taylor, valued at about $1.5 billion.³

Numbers marked “our math” are our estimates, not official figures. The notes show the inputs and the steps.

How it works

• The appraisal district puts a value on every property each year. School districts use that value to set taxes.¹
• A big new factory can add billions in value at once. Homes add value slowly, one at a time.
• Some big projects get a school tax deal. Under an old state law, a school district could agree to tax a new plant at a lower value for its main fund for 10 years. Taylor ISD has this kind of deal.¹⁴

What the numbers show

Part of the value ($ billions)	2025	2026	Change (our math)
Buildings that are not homes	2.68	3.90	+1.22
Business equipment	0.53	1.64	+1.11
Home buildings	1.31	1.24	−0.07
All property	7.18	9.41	+2.22

Source: appraisal district certified values. The 2025 column adds the separate lines for the plant’s tax deal, so it matches 2026 (our math).¹²

• The value grew in big steps after 2021. About a third of the five-year jump came from 2025 to 2026 (our math).¹²
• The 2025 sheet listed part of the plant on separate lines. Those lines held about $1.6 billion. The main Taylor ISD line leaves them out, so it looks smaller than it was.¹
• The number of properties grew only 13% from 2021 to 2026. So most of the jump came from higher value per property, not from more properties.¹²
• The state’s own check shows the same pattern. Its 2025 study counts about $2.6 billion in value that is taken off before school taxes. In 2021 that was about $0.3 billion.⁵

The other side

• A higher value does not mean Taylor ISD keeps all the money. The state counts local tax money when it sends aid. More local value can mean less state aid.
• The tax deal lowers what the plant pays for the main school fund. For those years, the main fund counts the plant at a set lower value. The plant still pays the full debt tax.⁴
• 2026 values can still move. Appeals can change them.
• We cannot split the 2026 jump by owner. The 2026 sheet does not show the plant on its own line. We assume the main 2026 line includes it. If it does not, the true 2026 value is higher.

Questions to ask

• How much of the value jump comes from each large project, by the appraisal district’s count?
• Where does the state post how the value change affects state aid?

Changes to this page

• Nov. 2, 2026: We changed wording so it says no more than our sources show.
• Nov. 2, 2026: Added questions to ask.
• Nov. 2, 2026: We now name the chip plant company, as our other pages do.
• Nov. 2, 2026: Our 2025 column left out about $1.6 billion that the 2025 sheet listed on separate lines for the plant’s tax deal. We added it. The 2025 total is now about $7.2 billion, not $5.5 billion. The one-year jump is about a third of the five-year rise, not more than half.¹

What you can do or watch next

• See property by school district for all school districts in the county.
• See from market value to taxable value for how value turns into a tax bill.

What we still don’t know

• How much of the 2026 jump is the chip plant and how much is other projects.
• How the jump changes Taylor ISD’s state aid. That math is done by the state each year.

Footnotes

1. Williamson Central Appraisal District, “1999 – 2026 Certified Values” spreadsheet. Taylor ISD row: 2021 market $2,563,698,108 (9,976 properties); 2025 market $5,549,107,142, non-homestead improvements $1,212.7 million, personal property $424.0 million, homestead improvements $1,312.4 million; 2026 market $9,406,955,681 (11,260 properties), non-homestead improvements $3,903.2 million, personal property $1,639.9 million, homestead improvements $1,237.9 million. The 2024 and 2025 tabs also show separate tax-deal rows: “Taylor ISD 3.13 I&S” (2024 market $409,917,869; 2025 market $1,635,450,531, with non-homestead improvements $1,470.0 million and personal property $110.0 million) and “Taylor ISD 3.13 M&O” ($80,000,000 limited value, the same property). The 2025 main row’s non-homestead improvements ($1,212.7 million) are smaller than the I&S row’s ($1,470.0 million), so the main row leaves out the I&S row’s property. The 2026 tab has no separate rows. https://www.wcad.org/historical-data/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

2. Our math. 9,407.0 ÷ 2,563.7 = 3.67. 2025 with tax-deal I&S lines: 5,549.1 + 1,635.5 = 7,184.6; non-home buildings 1,212.7 + 1,470.0 = 2,682.7; equipment 424.0 + 110.0 = 534.0 (the M&O row is the same property at a limited value, so it is not added). Five-year rise 9,407.0 − 2,563.7 = 6,843.3; one-year rise 9,407.0 − 7,184.6 = 2,222.4, which is 32% of it. Properties 11,260 ÷ 9,976 = 1.13. Changes: 3,903.2 − 2,682.7 = 1,220.5; 1,639.9 − 534.0 = 1,105.9; 1,237.9 − 1,312.4 = −74.5. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

3. Williamson Central Appraisal District, 2025 Annual Report, “2025 Top 10 Taxpayers” (first: Samsung Austin Semiconductor LLC, appraisal value $1,525,416,991) and “Greater Developments” (first: the chip plant, industrial, $1,605,000,000). https://www.wcad.org/reports/ ↩

4. Texas Tax Code chapter 313 (expired Dec. 31, 2022) allowed school value limitation agreements for the main (maintenance and operations) tax only; debt (I&S) taxes were not limited. The appraisal district lists the Taylor ISD limited value at $80 million (see the certified values note). ↩ ↩²

5. Texas Comptroller, School District Property Value Study, Taylor ISD (246-911) summary worksheet: 2021 total deductions $295,285,020; 2025 (preliminary) total deductions $2,561,045,363. ↩