A tax reinvestment entity which focuses on the downtown area has zeroed in on more projects, opting to request a $2 million bond issuance to help fund big ticket items.
The TIRZ board for the city of Marble Falls met April 30 to take steps to- wards ramping up a number of projects as well as reviewing ongoing ones.
TIRZ stands for tax increment reinvestment zone. The TIRZ board is funded by receiving 25 cents on every new tax dollar generated by property improvements or new builds within the TIRZ area. The board, formed about a decade ago, oversees on-going projects, utilizing funds from the taxing mechanism.
“There’s two formulations that we do. One is called pay-gos, where we pay for it as you go. Those are typically sidewalk projects, access points, stairs, ramps, trying to get things more in compliance with ADA,” TIRZ Vice Chairman Joe Don Dockery explained. “Then, we do capital improvement projects (CIP) which are the bigger scope projects.
“We can’t do that out of pocket, so we’re looking at doing a bond issuance, and then itemizing with the projects would be within the bond,” he added.
On April 30, the TIRZ board approved recommending a $2 million bond issuance to be presented to the Marble Falls City Council.
“As a (TIRZ) board, we would come up with a list, and then we’d send it to the council,” Dockery said. “The council would have to be the one to issue the debt service (bond issuance).”
All the project are within the TIRZ district which are in primarily the downtown area and some sections adjacent sections of the city near the historic district.
“The goal is to tie them (projects) into existing businesses, improve them in the public realm (handrails, sidewalks, etc.), getting rid of stairs that are irregular in height – doing everything we can to tie downtown into the hotel/ conference center.”
The planned hotel/ conference center is a public-private partnership between the Marble Falls Economic Development Corporation and a private investment group which is expected to break ground in July of this year, offi cials say. The location of the venue, is planned for land adjacent to Lakeside Park on Lake Marble Falls, around the corner from the Falls Creek Skatepark.
TIRZ members are appointed by the city council and referred to as directors.
During the recent TIRZ meeting, Dockery moved to adopt the bond issuance recommendation, which passed unanimously.
On May 6, the TIRZ sub-commitee is expected to meet to discuss and potentially prioritize the list of projects that may either be funded with the proposed bond or with the pay-go process. (See related story on Page 2). The board limits itself to $75,000 on each pay-go project, he said. Those that exceed that figure are considered capital improvement projects.
Discussions may include a round-about at the intersection of Avenue H and First Street; Sidewalk improvements in the area of Third and Avenue J, including potentially shaving back a bluff on the west side of a bed-and-breakfast for more parking options; and replacing and reducing the size of an aging sidewalk which extends from Main Street along Third Street to Avenue J for improved mobility and safety.
Another project involves crews re-measuring and re-striping parking spots on Main Street to expand potential parking spots. During the April 30 TIRZ meeting, board members gave the green light on that project to proceed at a cost of $65,050.
This project will follow several other projects including sidewalk, railing and ADA compliance improvements at Third and Main Street adjacent to Old Oak Square.
“We failed to plan for our success,” Dockery said of needed upgrades. “Now, the downtown area has really taken off.”
TIRZ members are appointed by the Marble Falls City Council. Along with Dockery (a state house representative designee), the directors are Lori Brix, Teresa Carosella, Mitch McManus, Kyle Stripling (chairman and state senate designee), Rebecca Nunnally, Bob Weis and Richard Westerman. Brix and Westerman were not in attendance at the April 30 meeting.