Bandera EDC reviews legal powers, performance agreements and unused property holdings

At a Bandera Economic Development Corporation workshop that ran about 6:30–7:40 p.m., members and advisors reviewed the EDC's legal authorities, how sales-tax revenue may be used, and existing agreements tied to EDC spending.

The discussion focused on which projects a type B EDC may fund under Texas law, requirements for written performance agreements when EDC funds are granted or loaned, and several governance and liability questions raised by board members, including a longstanding EDC performance agreement with the Best Western and multiple EDC-owned parcels that have not been developed.

Sarah, an attorney advising the EDC, told members that EDCs are governed by Chapter 505 of the Texas Local Government Code and that "EDCs are all subject to the Open Meetings Act and the Open Records Act." She explained that the EDC's funds come from a local sales tax and that type B EDCs — like Bandera's — have broader flexibility than type A EDCs to fund projects that "promote or develop new or expanded business enterprises," and, for cities with small populations, do not…