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Longtime resident recounts buying city "RIBs," suggests reviving direct public financing tool
Summary
A resident told the council about purchasing revenue improvement bonds (RIBs) in 1986 to help finance a downtown parking garage and suggested the city consider a similar tool to fund targeted local projects outside bond election cycles.
Dan Hayes, who said he worked as a vendor maintaining city mainframe equipment in the 1980s, told the Feb. 18 public comment session about a past Fort Worth program that sold revenue improvement bonds (referred to in the remarks as "RIBs") directly to the public to fund the two-story parking garage serving the Will Rogers complex.
"After looking into this, I bought 2 for $918 total, which 9 years later, I cashed in for $2,000 with the interest being tax free," Hayes said, describing the experience as a positive example of public participation in financing a city project. He offered a 1986 booklet about the program to City Manager Jay Chapa.
Hayes suggested the program might be another tool for financing specific projects outside of periodic bond elections but acknowledged he did not know whether the concept remains legal or feasible today. The transcript records the anecdote as public comment only; no staff response or action was recorded.
