Intel Corp.'s $2.1 billion Ohio incentive package is growing by at least $242 million in the first three years of tax exemptions state lawmakers added to the deal. State budget officials had projected "hundreds of millions" when the state's two-year capital budget added exemptions that apply to the chipmaker and its suppliers. The two tax breaks are for sales and use tax related to construction and equipment at the New Albany site, and the commercial activity tax for certain equipment purchases. The California chipmaker is spending $28 billion to build the first two semiconductor fabrication factories in Licking County, which could grow to eight fabs. The first phase is expected to create 7,000 construction jobs and 3,000 permanent Intel jobs. Here are the subsidies Intel's Ohio semiconductor campus has received so far Under updated projections from the Ohio Department of Taxation, the sales and use tax exemption is expected to cost $76.7 million in the fiscal year that ended June 30, $86.2 million this fiscal year and $64.1 million in FY25. Fiscal 2025 is the first expected year of the CAT impact, projected at $14.8 million. The exemptions last as long as Intel's 30-year Job Creation Tax Credit remains in place, according to the legislation, whether it expires in 2053 or is terminated early. Intel now expects to complete construction on the first two fabs in 2026 or 2027, with another year before becoming operational – and the company has a history of continually updating its complexes in other states, so the sales and CAT exemptions would likely result in more savings. The state's next tax projections are to be published in January 2025. Last week the California chipmaker was awarded $8.5 million in grants and up to $11 million in loans from the federal Chips and Science Act – which applies across projects in four states totaling more than $100 billion in construction and equipment. That investment also qualifies the company for a separate Chips Act federal tax credit of up to 25%. Everything you need to know about Intel's New Albany project Ohio had announced $1.9 billion in incentives in early 2022, and JobsOhio, the private economic development organization, added $150 million in grants. JobsOhio was in confidential talks with Intel in 2021, and persuaded the legislature to create a "megaproject" economic development category allowing for 30-year tax incentives, double the previous maximum. In 2022 lawmakers sweetened the deal, inserting the sales and CAT exemptions in the capital budget. The law doesn't name Intel, but says the exemptions apply to construction and equipment for a manufacturing or R&D at a facility for manufacturing semiconductor wafers in a megaproject site. Meanwhile, Intel did pay $4.4 million in local property taxes on the 835 acres it has purchased so far, according to Licking County Auditor records. New Albany approved a 30-year, 100% property tax exemption that will apply only to improvements on the site. That will start tolling once construction is "substantially complete" and the structure's value is assessed, according to a city spokesman, so there's no estimate yet of the savings. Intel still pays taxes on the land, which increased in value because of Intel's plans. The tax bill averages $5,300 per acre, according to a Columbus Business First analysis. Past tax bills for previous owners were not available because Intel-owned lots were formed by combining several smaller parcels. Also, under Ohio law farmland is taxed at much lower values than industrial property.