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Council designates North Killeen residential reinvestment zone and updates abatement criteria
Summary
The council unanimously approved a large residential reinvestment zone north of Veterans Memorial and readopted updated tax-abatement guidelines to make residential development eligible for abatements under specified criteria.
KILLEEN, Texas — The Killeen City Council unanimously adopted an ordinance designating an approximately 7,064-acre residential reinvestment zone on the city’s north side and readopted amended tax-abatement guidelines that make single-family, two-family and multifamily development eligible for abatement consideration.
Planning staff said the reinvestment zone covers the city’s North Killeen revitalization area and additional territory north of Veterans Memorial Boulevard. The intent, staff said, is to encourage new residential investment where housing stock is aging, lots are vacant or underdeveloped, and to strengthen the market case for retail investments such as a grocery store.
Under the amended guidelines adopted by the council, residential projects would become eligible for tax abatement where they meet minimum investment thresholds: projects must involve a minimum investment greater than 300% of the base-year taxable value for new facilities (or at least 50% of base value for modernization projects). The revised guidelines also raise the minimum investment for commercial facilities to be considered for abatement and add a jobs-quality threshold for some commercial abatements.
Staff said grocers and other retailers have told city economic-development staff they want to see increased nearby rooftops before committing to a store. Staff told council that a rule-of-thumb used in conversations with retailers is a threshold in the thousands of new dwelling units (staff cited an industry-typical target of roughly 5,000 rooftops in a trade area as a common retailer requirement); the ordinance does not itself require retailers to commit.
City staff said each abatement agreement would come back to council for approval and that abatements cannot be longer than 10 years under state law. The council readopted updated guidelines and criteria for tax abatement and directed staff to make outreach about the program available to developers.
