Delay gives city a hard Dec. 14 deadline to end Seaholm special taxing district
Tuesday, December 5, 2023 by
Chad Swiatecki City Council will have until its Dec. 14 meeting to close down a taxing district created to revitalize the Seaholm Power Plant property.
That deadline comes because of a decision at last week’s meeting not to close down the tax increment reinvestment zone (TIRZ) that was created in 2008 to fund improvements to the Seaholm property, with later amendments added to help the surrounding area. The proposed ordinance amendment to close down the TIRZ was voted down 6-4, with Mayor Kirk Watson and Council members Leslie Pool, Alison Alter and Mackenzie Kelly voting in favor. Council Member Ryan Alter was not present for the vote.
The amendment, which will return for the Dec. 14 meeting, would have ended the collection of property taxes that would be kept within the district.
The remaining $12 million will be transferred to the General Fund. Interim City Manager Jesús Garza said a future budget amendment would allocate that money for the transportation projects remaining a priority from the Bowie underpass project. That project has mostly been halted because of the end of negotiations with Union Pacific Railroad in 2021 to develop the crossing.
While some Council members who voted against the amendment said they need more time to study the aftereffects of ending the TIRZ, Garza and Watson noted that the Dec. 14 meeting is the last chance to end the taxing mechanism before it would start accruing more revenue in 2024.
“When we use these tools like this TIRZ, there are requirements that we need to follow and people pay attention to whether or not we follow those requirements,” Watson said, noting there are other public investment and fundraising tools the city could use. “There’s a whole lot of potential opportunities here that we ought to take into account as opposed to trying to patchwork an existing TIRZ that has succeeded and lived its life.”
Mayor Pro Tem Paige Ellis said the bicycle paths and other mobility options included in the many years of work on developing the railroad crossing remain a priority for which the remaining TIRZ money should be reserved.
“I know there’s a whole bunch of need in the area and there may be other tools to be able to accomplish the same goals,” she said. “I just worry about moving forward with closing it without Council having a chance to designate exactly what we want to make sure is in the project list with the remainder of the money.”
The Seaholm TIRZ was created as a way to fund the vision for the area laid out in the 2001 Seaholm master plan. It was originally scheduled to automatically terminate in 2043 but a number of conditions, including the completion of designated projects, allowed for it to end early.
Garza said the forthcoming budget amendment will set the remaining money aside and give Council time to determine what the current priorities are for using that money as well as other larger needs for the area.
The TIRZ mechanism has drawn criticism from some residents and city watchdogs, who argue it prevents transparency and accountability over how property tax revenue is used.
Bill Bunch, executive director of the Save Our Springs Alliance, spoke in favor of closing down the TIRZ and reminded Council of an ongoing fight against a TIRZ planned for the South Central Waterfront District.
“This is not a blighted area. This is parkland. … What you should know with TIRZ legislation is you’re dodging voter accountability on debt financing and you’re also potentially trumping the city charter that protects our public parkland,” he said. “It’s absurd to say this area is blighted. It wasn’t blighted when this TIRZ was created. It shouldn’t have been created and it needs to be shut down.”
Photo made available through a Creative Commons license.
The Austin Monitor’s work is made possible by donations from the community. Though our reporting covers donors from time to time, we are careful to keep business and editorial efforts separate while maintaining transparency. A complete list of donors is available here, and our code of ethics is explained here.
You're a community leader
And we’re honored you look to us for serious, in-depth news. You know a strong community needs local and dedicated watchdog reporting. We’re here for you and that won’t change. Now will you take the powerful next step and support our nonprofit news organization?
