Smith County Tax Abatement Projects are Successful

TYLER — Smith County Commissioners Court has received their annual update on Tax Abatement Agreement projects with the county. The Tax Abatement Agreement with Smith County includes John Soules Foods, Reef Services and Scotts Hyponex. Felicia Herndon, vice president of finance for the Tyler Economic Development Council, told commissioners Tuesday the three businesses have added a combined 255 jobs to the community and invested more than $37 million in the local economy.

The commissioners also received an update on four other tax abatement projects that it participates in, which were initiated by the City of Tyler. These businesses are Centene, Hood Packaging, Tazza Pronto and VME Process Systems. The report showed they have resulted in more than $74 million in investments in facilities and equipment, and created 609 new jobs for the Smith County economy.