Colleyville staff recommend extending TIF district, expanding boundaries; school participation to end in 2030

Colleyville officials on Sept. 3 continued a work-session discussion about extending and expanding the city’s tax increment financing (TIF) reinvestment zone, with a consultant outlining projections, new project categories and a timeline for formal consideration this fall.

The discussion centered on two goals, consultant David Pettit said: “One is to capture increment where you think there’s going to be development, and another is where you want to spend TIF money.” Pettit said the proposal would amend the TIF map to add several noncontiguous areas and corridors, set a 2025 base year and extend the district term by 25 years to Dec. 31, 2055, with no change to the city’s 100% participation of real property increment inside the zone.

The extension would also increase the project and financing plan to reflect additional project costs and new spending categories, Pettit said. He said the consultant team projected roughly $344 million in new development taxable value over the extended term and estimated that anticipated development would generate about $147.6 million in increment to fund projects, with the majority of revenues in the extension period coming from the existing base value in the original zone.

Why it matters: City staff and the consultant said expanding the TIF boundary would give Colleyville flexibility to both capture new tax increment from likely redevelopment areas and spend funds on infrastructure—roads, water, sewer and drainage—along identified corridors. That flexibility also affects how the city plans for long-term commitments funded by the TIF, including school-related items that currently receive a share of increment.

What the plan would add: Pettit walked council members through map areas the team proposes to add, including parcels near McDonwell School Road and Precinct Line, a city-owned parcel adjacent to an existing TIF boundary, park and recreation center parcels, corridors along State Highway 121 and Glade Road, and areas abutting Hurst with redevelopment potential. The city would group expected uses into categories such as hotels, quick-service retail, office, industrial and senior living for projection purposes.

School participation and SRO funding: The presentation reiterated that the Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District and Tarrant County College currently participate in the TIF but that, under state law, their statutory participation ends in 2030. Council members asked about how the schools’ departure would affect ongoing commitments paid from the TIF, including funding for school resource officers (SROs). A council member said Colleyville and Grapevine currently pay for SROs in part out of TIF funds and asked whether a TIF extension could provide a transition period rather than a hard stop in 2030.

Pettit and staff told the council that state statute generally limits TIF spending to capital and project-related costs but that a statutory provision allows maintenance of project improvements; the consultant said that language has been used elsewhere to permit ongoing operational costs tied to project improvements, and that the city could use TIF funding to support SROs for a transition period if the council and TIF board elect to do so. Staff emphasized that post‑2030 increment levels would be lower and that using TIF revenue for SROs could consume a substantial portion of future annual increment.

Process and timing: Pettit said staff planned to finalize maps, a revised project and financing plan (including legal meets-and-bounds), and publish statutory notice ahead of a first reading and public hearing planned for Oct. 8, 2025. He said a second reading was scheduled for Oct. 21, a TIF board meeting for Nov. 5, 2025, and additional council consideration in mid-November. He and staff stressed that the amendment process would return individual project allocations to the TIF board and city council for approval on a case-by-case basis.

City context and constraints: Pettit noted the consultant’s projections become less certain beyond a 5–10 year horizon and described the estimates as conservative. He also noted that under state law the school district’s statutory TIF participation ends in 2030, which is a constraint the city cannot change through the TIF amendment.

Next steps: Staff said they would prepare the formal amendment package and notices for the Oct. 8 hearing and bring project-level proposals back to the TIF board and council as projects are proposed.