Baltimore County Council approves $210M tax break for Anduril’s Sparrows Point shipyard

The Baltimore County Council voted unanimously Monday night to give Anduril Industries a tax break worth up to $210 million over 30 years for its planned submarine manufacturing facility in Sparrows Point.

The personal property tax credit will allow Anduril, a California-based defense technology firm valued at $90 billion, to avoid paying taxes that it would otherwise owe on cranes, machinery and other equipment at the site.

The credit is part of a nearly $500 million package of county and state subsidies the company is expected to receive for the $3.7 billion facility at Tradepoint Atlantic, where it plans to produce submarine parts for the U.S. Navy.

The county’s tax measure faced little opposition or debate after the council introduced it nearly a month ago. County Executive Kathy Klausmeier, who attended Monday’s vote, joined council members in applauding after the bill passed.

Lawmakers said the incentives were necessary to secure a potentially transformative project, which they said would create more than 3,100 permanent jobs and bring the largest economic investment in the county’s history.

“Baltimore County’s responsibility, like any level of government, is to lay the foundation for growth, and I think that’s what we’re doing today,” Councilman David Marks said. “I think this is the right decision, and look forward to seeing what the next few years will bring us.”

Klausmeier’s administration has cast Anduril’s investment as a rebirth of southeast Baltimore County. The area has struggled with job and population loss since Bethlehem Steel’s Sparrows Point mill declined and eventually closed in 2012.

Tradepoint Atlantic took over the site in 2014 and transformed it into a logistics hub with warehouses and distribution centers. The company is also partnering with Terminal Investment Limited to build a new shipping container terminal.

Anduril’s proposed 2 million-square-foot submarine factory, unveiled last month during a visit to Tradepoint by President Donald Trump, would be the site’s biggest job creator to date.

“I thank the County Council for passing this legislation to attract maritime manufacturing investment, create good-paying jobs and strengthen Baltimore County’s economy,” Klausmeier said in a statement. “This tax credit builds on Sparrows Point’s proud industrial history and helps position our county for the next generation of manufacturing.”

Named for a sword in “The Lord of the Rings,” Anduril specializes in autonomous weapons systems, including submarines, drones and missiles that incorporate artificial intelligence. Its co-founder, Hawaiian shirt-wearing entrepreneur Palmer Luckey, is a major Trump donor and fundraiser.

A few local residents urged the council to reject the tax credit, arguing that the county should not provide public money to a company involved in warfare.

“Do not help Anduril Industries increase its outlandish profit at the expense of your constituents,” Baltimore resident Alexandria Sweeney said at an Oct. 27 hearing on the tax bill. “Do not hand over $210 million of Baltimore County residents’ dollars to this AI war tech company. Keep war out of our economy.”

The Anduril vote comes less than a year after the council approved a 50-year tax break for Tradepoint and TiL for the container terminal. It was the largest tax credit in the county’s history.

Several states competed for Anduril’s investment, and the tax incentives offered by Baltimore County were a major reason Maryland was able to land the project, said David Frash, the company’s director of state and local government relations.

“I cannot understate the national competitive search that we went on,” Frash told the council at an Oct. 13 hearing. “There is not a piece of property or a shipyard that our team has not stepped foot on or met with. And ultimately, we chose Maryland and Baltimore County to do this work.”

Maryland’s state government also is offering incentives to Anduril.

Gov. Wes Moore has promised $75 million in the state budget over the next six years for construction of the facility and a training center for workers. That funding is subject to approval by the Maryland General Assembly.

Another approximately $200 million in incentives is expected to come from existing state economic development programs.

Frash told the council that the company expects to start construction at Tradepoint this year, begin hiring in 2029, and open the facility in 2030.

Banner reporter Pamela Wood contributed reporting.