Downtown Development Won’t Lower Your Property Taxes

Downtown is covered by Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone #5.

You remember those TIRZs. Here’s what the Texas Comptroller says about TIRZs:

When a municipality or county creates a TIRZ, it records the total taxable value of all real property within the zone. It’s like a snapshot in time of what the property values are at that specific moment. That snapshot is the zone’s base value.

Each year, property taxes collected in the zone on base value continue to go into the municipality’s or county’s general fund, as most property taxes do.

But as property in the TIRZ develops and becomes more valuable, a portion of the taxes collected on property above the base value is deposited into a tax increment fund. Revenue deposited in the tax increment fund can be only used to financing projects within the zone, including infrastructure, facade programs, landscaping, streetscaping or practically any type of public enhancement.

So even if those downtown projects hadn’t been given tax incentives, the taxes on the improvements wouldn’t have gone to the General Fund. The taxes on the values of the improvements will go to the TIRZ #5 fund. For “infrastructure, facade programs, landscaping, streetscaping or practically any type of public enhancement.”

This isn’t our town. We just live here.

One comment

  1. As a native El Pasoan I recall that once upon a time Downtown was the place to go…nowadays it is hard to drive to, no parking or expensive to park with few reasons to go: no shopping…just infrequent special events. Also city council will give you only 3 minutes to talk!

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