HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 10135 INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 10135
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council May 1, 2018
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*a SUBJECT: TEXAS ENTERPRISE ZONE NOMINATION FOR BELL TEXTRON
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The City Council of the City of Fort Worth (City) has previously passed Ordinance No. 15733 electing to
participate in the Texas Enterprise Zone Program. On May 12, 2015 the City Council adopted Ordinance
No. 21743-05-2015, amending Ordinance No. 15733 by adding additional potential local incentives that
could be made available to qualified businesses under the Texas Enterprise Zone Program. The Office of
the Governor Economic Development and Tourism through the Economic Development Bank will consider
Bell Textron Inc. (Bell) as an enterprise project pursuant to a nomination and an application made by the
City.
The Texas Enterprise Zone Program is an economic development tool for local communities to partner with
the State of Texas to promote job creation and capital investment in economically distressed areas of the
State. An enterprise project is defined as a business that is nominated by a municipality or county and then
approved for state benefits. Designated projects are eligible to apply for state sales and use tax refunds on
qualified expenditures. The level and amount of refund is related to the capital investment and jobs created
at the qualified business site.
Bell qualifies for a single Enterprise Project Designation with a projected capital investment of $115.0
million for upgrades, improvements and expansions at the existing site located at 3255 Bell Helicopter
Boulevard. This includes approximately $30 million to construct an 85,000 square foot Bell Training
Academy ("BT A") Innovation Center and BT A Flight Operations landing pads, $8.5 million to relocate
the BTA Practice Airfields used in the company's onsite training academy, $2.5 million to construct a
10,000 square foot Autonomy Experimentation Integration Laboratory, $16.5 million to purchase a 429
FPS State of the Art flight simulator and construct a 10,000 square foot building in which to house it, and
$23 million in advanced infrastructure and manufacturing equipment, including rotor machining strategy
and building modernization. Additionally, the company plans to spend over $16 million on the
development of an estimated 300,000 square foot Factory of the Future. An additional $18.5 million will
spent over the course of the designation on other projects to modernize Bell's facilities.
If designated as an enterprise project by the State of Texas, Bell commits to hiring thirty-five percent(35%)
economically disadvantaged persons or enterprise zone residents for its new certified jobs at its Fort Worth
facility during its enterprise project designation. Bell expects to increase its existing level of employment
by creating an additional 400 jobs over the next five years and commits to retaining up 500 full-time jobs
for benefit under the Enterprise Zone Program.
The single project designation allows for a state sales and use tax refund on qualified expenditures of
$2,500 per job, for up to 500 jobs, with a maximum benefit of$1.25 million over a five year period. Under
the Texas Enterprise Zone Act at least twenty-five percent of the business' new or retained employees will
be residents of an enterprise zone, economically disadvantaged individuals or veterans. In addition, the jobs
will be provided through the end of the designation period or at least three years after the date on which a
state benefit is received, whichever is later.
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS
INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 10135
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council May 1, 2018
r Page 2 of 2
SUBJECT: TEXAS ENTERPRISE ZONE NOMINATION FOR BELL TEXTRON
rF3 INC.
Staff will place an M&C for City Council consideration on the May 8, 2018 agenda nominating Bell
Textron Inc. as an Enterprise Zone Project pursuant to the Texas Enterprise Zone Program. Submittal and
approval of this application for State benefits will have no fiscal impact to the City's general fund.
Bell previously was nominated as an Enterprise Zone Project by Tarrant County for a five-year period that
expired in 2017.
If you have any questions concerning this information, please contact Robert Sturns, Economic
Development Director at 817-212-2663 or robert.stums@fortworthtexas.gov.
David Cooke
City Manager
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS