Taylor authorizes manager to contract for fiscal-impact model to evaluate development proposals

The Taylor City Council on Sept. 25 authorized the city manager to execute an agreement with Tishler, Baez & Associates to develop an independent fiscal-impact model for the city. Staff said the model will be city-owned and used to evaluate proposed developments and to support the ongoing comprehensive-plan and code updates.

Planner/Staff member Carly Pearson told council the model would be calibrated to Taylor’s budget and tax-base characteristics, and would provide an objective, repeatable method for estimating revenues and service costs associated with new development. “This will be used by the city and staff and presented to council for new developments and initiatives,” Pearson said.

Councilmembers praised the recommendation as a tool to reduce subjective or promotional claims made by developers in one-off presentations. One councilmember said the model would require applicants to fill a standard form, removing the “email game” and inconsistent representations made to different local stakeholders.

The contract price is under $50,000 and staff asked for authorization for the city manager to execute the agreement. Council asked staff to ensure the model is demonstrable to council before final acceptance and to include city-specific inputs and several demonstrations during development. The motion to authorize the city manager to execute the agreement passed unanimously.

Staff said the model will be used going forward to ensure the city evaluates development proposals against a standard fiscal-impact framework; final adoption of any model outputs will accompany staff recommendations to council on specific development approvals.