Using downtown to invest in itself: Main Street applauds TIRZ

Special by  Kyle Kramm, Main Street & CVB director
(Seguin) —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. One of the first projects the Seguin Main Street Advisory Board selected to accomplish first was the creation of Seguin’s first Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) which would include the downtown district. The idea to move forward with this project first is that it can become a funding source for many of the projects within the master plan.

A TIRZ is tool local governments use to finance public improvements and infrastructure within a defined area using future tax revenues from the properties within the zone. 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.

The revenue from the zone can be used for a variety of uses. Preservation of building facades, acquisition of land and structures, public infrastructure improvements, streetscape beautification, economic development, and more.

At the July 16 City Council meeting, the Council will discuss the proposed boundaries of the zone. At the next City Council meeting on August 6, the City Council will hold a public hearing on the creation of the zone. The public is invited to attend both meetings.

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.

“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 Kyle Kramm, Seguin

Main Street & CVB Director, “I see it as a way for downtown to invest in itself – the future taxes of downtown properties will be going to downtown projects.”

Other projects connected to the downtown master plan that Seguin Main Street is working on includes downtown restrooms, Wells Fargo redevelopment, event facilitation, and Donegan Street improvements.