Council approves $480,000 AEDC incentive and eight-year abatement for Horizon Ag-Products, 5-0
Kevin Carter presented an AEDC location incentive agreement with Horizon Ag Products for a project estimated at $20 million in improvements and equipment, paying $480,000 for up to 40 full-time jobs over 10 years. The council approved it 5-0, then approved 5-0 an 80%, eight-year tax abatement among the City, the AEDC, Quasar AmarilloTx, LLC, RAH Arlington I, LLC and Horizon Ag-Products. The agreement names a facility at 421 SE 34th Ave., in Reinvestment Zone No. 16.[1][2]
Councilmember Powell moved and Councilmember Smith seconded the location incentive agreement under which the AEDC would provide Horizon Ag Products $480,000 for up to 40 full-time employees, paid over 10 years on a 10-year performance term, for a project estimated at $20,000,000 in improvements and equipment. It passed 5-0.[1]
Incentive
$480,000
Projected jobs
40
Estimated investment
$20,000,000
✓ Verified
Councilmember Powell moved and Councilmember Sauer seconded a tax abatement agreement among the City, the AEDC, Quasar AmarilloTx, LLC, RAH Arlington I, LLC and Horizon Ag-Products: 80% for eight years on $20,000,000 in estimated improvements and equipment. It passed 5-0. The draft agreement in the agenda attachments is titled 'Tax Abatement: Reinvestment Zone No. 16', and the incentive agreement defines the facility as being at 421 SE 34th Ave., the location of that zone.[1][2]
Abatement
80%
Abatement years
8
✓ Verified
The AEDC memo projected (not results) $2,400,000 in new annual payroll. The agreement describes Horizon Ag-Products, L.P. as a maker of organic-based soil amendments and fertilizer additives. The AEDC board approved it 3-0 on January 19, 2022.[2]
Projected annual payroll
$2,400,000
✓ Verified
AEDC staff told the board on February 22, 2022 that 'the purchase of the building by the company did not happen so the company will not be moving to Amarillo.' The AEDC's audited FY2022 statements, which describe the incentive agreements approved that fiscal year, do not name Horizon Ag-Products, and the company does not appear in the FY2023 or FY2024 audit commitments notes or in the AEDC's project status reports from January 2025 through March 31, 2026.
[3][4][5][6][7]
✓ Verified
Two weeks after the council vote, AEDC staff told the board on February 22, 2022: 'Horizon Ag Products: The purchase of the building by the company did not happen so the company will not be moving to Amarillo.' The AEDC board had approved the $480,000 agreement 3-0 on January 19, 2022, describing a company purchasing the former Anderson Merchandisers building with $23,000,000 in capital improvements.[7][8]
