HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 9729 INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 9729
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council May 5, 2015
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*a SUBJECT: TEXAS ENTERPRISE ZONE PROGRAM
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The Texas Enterprise Zone Program is an economic development tool that promotes job creation
and private investment, particularly in economically distressed areas of the state. Project
applicants are nominated by local communities and if approved by the State, a business can
receive state sales and use tax refunds on qualified expenditures. There is no financial impact to
the nominating community and the amount of refund is tied to the project's capital investment and
jobs created/retained at the business site. This program is administered through the Office of the
Governor, Economic Development Bank.
The local effort section comprises 25% of the application scoring, and there are 30 possible
"incentives" that may be applicable in that section. As this program has become more widely
used, competition across the state has placed a higher emphasis on the need for projects to
receive points in the local effort section. The City's current participating ordinance (Ord. 15733)
limits the overall potential local incentives. In order for projects nominated by the City of Fort
Worth to score more competitively, a review of the ordinance has been undertaken to determine if
an update should include additional scoring categories that could potentially be made available by
Fort Worth on a case-by-case basis. Additionally, the City's ordinance and application must be
updated to better reflect the phrasing and language used by the State in its program guidelines
and in Chapter 2303 of the Local Government Code. Discussions with representatives at the
Office of the Governor have confirmed that a municipality's ordinance should match the state
application so as to minimize uncertainty in applications when being scored by State staff.
The asterisk (*) below denotes items included in the existing ordinance that have historically been
interpreted by the State as potentially available and providing potential points in the application,
but that are currently phrased differently in the application which calls into question the scoring.
The chart also shows the various local incentives that are already included in our current
ordinance as potentially being available to applicant projects, as well as those that Staff would
like to add in an update of the ordinance.
IncludedIncentive Description of Incentive Included To be
1 Tax Abatement Property tax reduction X
2 Tax Increment Financing City may adopt tax increment financing X
for projects.
3 Freeport Exemption Exemption of in-transit inventory from X
personal property taxes
4 Chapter 380 Economic Development Grants X
5 Local Sales Tax Refund* Sales tax reimbursement X
Other Tax Deferrals, Tax Property tax exemption for historic structures
6 Refunds or Tax Incentives* and sites in accordance with applicable laws X
and City ordinances
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS
INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 9729
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council May 5, 2015
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*a SUBJECT: TEXAS ENTERPRISE ZONE PROGRAM
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Incentive DescriptionofIncentive Included To be
Included
7 Foreign Trade Zone Relief from paying Customs duties and tariffs X
8 Zoning Changes/ City may make zoning changes to expedite X
Variances* development process.
City may provide certain building code
9 Building Code Exemptions* exemptions to expedite development X
process.
10 Impact/Inspection Fee City may waive City-charged permit fees, X
Exemptions including inspection fees.
City may allow permit applications &
11 Streamlined Permitting* supporting materials to be submitted to 1 X
department for distribution to appropriate City
departments.
12 Improved Fire and Police Safety and protection of City residents X
Protection*
13 Community Crime Neighborhood Patrol Officers, Patrol Support, X
Prevention Programs and Code Blue
Special Public City may provide facilitation with public
14 Transportation Routes or X
Reduced Fares transportation providers.
Capital Improvements In City can provide resources for a capital
15 Water and Sewer Facilities* improvement plan related to water X
and sewer service.
16 Road Repair City's Street Department is responsible for X
maintaining and repairing public City Streets.
17 Creation or Improvement Maintain healthy lifestyle for City residents X
of Parks
Transfer Abandoned Transfer of abandoned property to individuals
18 Housing to Individuals X
or Community Groups* or groups at below market rates
Provision of Publicly Convey vacant, City-owned property located
19 Owned Land for in the enterprise zone to the business in X
Development Purposes accordance with applicable laws.
20 One-Stop Permitting, City may offer one-stop permitting. X
Problem Resolution Center*
21 Promotion and Marketing CFW Economic Development Department X
Service and Fort Worth Chamber
22 Job Training and Offered in conjunction with local community X
Employment Services* colleges, technical schools, etc.
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS
INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 9729
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council May 5, 2015
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*a SUBJECT: TEXAS ENTERPRISE ZONE PROGRAM
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Incentive DescriptionofIncentive Included To be
Included
23 Retraining Program Offered in conjunction with local community X
colleges, technical schools, etc.
24 Literacy and Employment Offered in conjunction with local community X
Skills Services colleges, technical schools, etc.
25 Vocational Education Offered in conjunction with local community X
colleges, technical schools, etc.
26 Customized Job Training* Offered in conjunction with local community X
colleges, technical schools, etc.
27 Use of surplus schools for Use of Guinn Campus for TECH Fort Worth X
business incubators and Idea Works incubators
Staff recommends an update of the City's Texas Enterprise Zone Program ordinance to include
the list of potential local incentives that may be provided to a project on a case-by-case basis as
outlined above.
Staff intends to place an M&C on the City Council agenda scheduled for May 12, 2015, to
conduct a public hearing regarding the proposed updated amendments and authorize approval of
the amended ordinance.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Jay Chapa, Economic Development
Director at 817-392-5804 or at Jesus.Chapa(o)fortworthtexas.gov.
David Cooke
City Manager
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS