Santa Fe holds public hearing on proposed tax increment reinvestment zone for Megatel development

The City of Santa Fe held a public hearing Jan. 23 on a proposed tax increment reinvestment zone — commonly called a TIRZ — covering property tied to the Megatel/Laguna Azure development, city staff and consultants said.

City Manager Alan introduced the item and invited outside consultants to explain the TIRZ process. Andrea Barnes of P3Works, who is serving as the city’s TIRZ administrator, told the council the hearing is required under state law and that the preliminary project and finance plan is not yet complete because the developer has not provided all materials.

Barnes outlined how a TIRZ functions under the Texas Tax Code: the property’s base value is set in the year the zone is created, and future increases in taxable value inside the zone (the “increment”) are placed in a special fund that can be used to pay for infrastructure and other approved projects inside the TIRZ. Barnes said the city would keep the base-year revenue for general purposes and only the agreed portion of the increment would flow to the TIRZ fund.

Several residents spoke during the public hearing, raising concerns about electrical capacity, drainage and traffic impacts on nearby streets. Donna Vaughn, who lives on Jack Beaver, said her neighborhood already experienced multiple power outages and asked how the grid would handle thousands of new homes. Mark Wintersch, who identified himself as an electrical engineer, urged the city and developer to use the project as an opportunity to upgrade the local distribution network to improve reliability.

Other residents asked about the proposed project’s timeline, drainage plans and whether nearby roads would be used by construction traffic; city staff said final drainage and utility plans remain under review by Drainage District No. 1 and other agencies and that some questions will be answered when the developer submits its final plans. Several commenters asked that the city post stormwater and utility plans publicly when they become available.

City staff and the consultant emphasized the hearing is for public input and noted that no council action on creating a TIRZ will occur until the preliminary project-and-finance plan is completed and the public has had an opportunity to comment further. The council voted to keep the public hearing open through the next meeting to accept additional written or oral comments.

What happens next: city staff and the developer must finalize the project and finance plan; the council will receive those materials and may schedule further hearings or an ordinance to create the TIRZ in a later meeting.