Seguin invited to sound off on proposed Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ)
6 Aug 2024
City Council, City of Seguin, Downtown
Seguin, TX, USA / Seguin Today
Cindy Aguirre
(Seguin) — The city of Seguin wants to hear more about what the public thinks about the proposed Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) for the city.
Kyle Kramm, Seguin Main Street and CVB director says a public hearing on the proposed idea is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 6 during the Seguin City Council meeting.
A TIRZ is a tool local governments can use to finance public improvements and infrastructure upgrades within a defined area using future tax revenues from the properties within the zone.
Kramm says the zone will have a tax increment base, which is what the city is currently collecting from the properties within the zone.
The city will continue to collect that same revenue, but as property values increase and bring in more revenue, a portion of that revenue will be designated to go towards the zone. This is not an additional assessment on the properties.
Kramm says in June of 2023, the Seguin City Council adopted the downtown master plan, which created a community vision for the future of the downtown district.
The plan included over 60 projects to implement.
Kramm says one of the projects the Seguin Main Street Advisory Board selected to accomplish first was the creation of the TIRZ in the downtown area.
“We are pleased to be making progress with the projects in the downtown master plan, and this is the first step to give us another tool in our tool belt to work on the projects in the plan,” said Kramm. “I see it as a way for downtown to invest in itself – the future taxes of downtown properties will be going to downtown projects.”
The revenue from the zone can be used for a variety of uses.
Such things include reservation of building facades, acquisition of land and structures, public infrastructure improvements, streetscape beautification and economic development.
Once the TIRZ is created by the City Council, a board will be created that will develop a project and financing plan for the zone.
The proposed zone is anticipated to last 25 years and create at least $8 million to be reinvested into the zone.
The public hearing on the creation of the zone will be held as part of Tuesday’s regular council meeting.
The meeting gets underway at 5:30 p.m. today at Seguin City Hall.
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