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More than a year's hotel tax, still unspentHouston's $4.9B Tax Break Machine
$4.89 billion in property value receiving tax incentives in a single county. The public loses an estimated $120M+ per year in uncollected revenue — while many of these properties charge market-rate rents.
Read this in the original
This entry provides context and source notes. Its detailed explanation remains in the original build; a separate visual breakdown has not yet been authored here.
- Start with the question and coverage below.
- Open the original to inspect the records, controls and evidence behind the finding.
- Check the source dates and methodology before comparing figures or drawing a conclusion.
What you’re looking at
361 properties in Harris County benefit from four overlapping tax incentive programs totaling $4.89 billion in value. 161 PFC apartments paying zero property tax ($4.68B), 36 Chapter 312 abatements ($201M), 61 Chapter 380 agreements ($3.2M), and 103 LIHTC 9% tax credit projects ($9.5M). Each program mapped, color-coded, and linked to its public data source.
The question behind it
Tax incentive programs were designed to attract development and create affordable housing. This map shows every property enrolled across all four major programs — who benefits, how much revenue is forgone, and where the programs overlap.
Why it matters
$4.89 billion in property value receiving tax incentives in a single county. The public loses an estimated $120M+ per year in uncollected revenue — while many of these properties charge market-rate rents.
Open the full visualizationSources & method
- Harris County Appraisal District (HCAD) 2025
- TX Comptroller Ch. 312 Abatement Detail
- TX Comptroller Ch. 380 Agreements
- HUD LIHTC Database (9% credits)
- TDHCA PFC Compliance Monitoring List
Method
PFC parcels from HCAD ArcGIS REST API (5 sponsor name queries). Chapter 312 and 380 from TX Comptroller open data CSVs, geocoded via Mapbox. LIHTC from HUD database filtered by FIPS county code 201 and credit type 2 (9%). All data combined into a single GeoJSON layer with program-specific popup details.