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Bexar County commissioners on Tuesday approved a tax break for San Antonio-based grocery giant H-E-B to expand its East Side Super Regional Center and eventually add hundreds of good paying jobs.
The ten-year, 85% tax break is worth $15 million. But that's a more modest amount compared to the $700 million H-E-B plans to pump into its facility at Houston Street and Foster Road. It will create 720 new full-time jobs by 2028 and a total of 1,200 new jobs by 2038.
It's the latest in a series of tax breaks given to big companies operating in the county and all promising good-paying jobs.
Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai said taxpayers will see a big return on those tax breaks.
"What we've seen, especially with our big industrial manufacturers, Toyota, JCB, and the ones to come, H-E-B, they truly give back."
The average first-year wage at the H-E-B facility will range from a little more than $18 an hour to $30 dollars an hour, depending on the position.
H-E-B plans to add a new bakery, fresh plant, and logistics hub to create the Super Regional Center.
In June, commissioners approved a big tax break for Toyota in return for a potential $2 billion investment and 2,000 new jobs at its South Side facility.
The 100% tax break would save Toyota $55 million in county taxes over 10 years. A job skills development grant to Toyota worth $250,000 was also approved by commissioners.
The plant will welcome back production of Tacoma pickups at the expanded facility. It also added a rear axle plant at its manufacturing complex off Applewhite Road.
Meanwhile, UK-based JCB manufacturing plans to open a new South Side facility by 2028. It will hire up to 1,500 workers.
When completed, JCB's $500 million plant will span 1 million square feet. The company is expected to have an economic impact of $10 billion over 10 years, according to county officials.
In March, county commissioners approved nearly $12 million in incentives to lure the global maker of agricultural, industrial, and construction equipment here.
The incentives include a grant of $250,000 for 250 jobs that each pay more than $58,000 annually. That's $1,000 for each one created and filled within the first two years of operation, according to county documents.
The biggest incentives are a 10-year, 100% tax break on real and personal property investments, a value of nearly $6.5 million and another $5 million for improvements to public infrastructure, like the roads surrounding the plant.
