Richardson TIF boards review annual reports showing growth and expected DART, developer payments

Chairperson Ron Taylor convened the City of Richardson Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Reinvestment Zone Nos. 2 and 3 board on March 5 to review the two zones’ annual reports and financial positions. The board unanimously approved prior minutes before hearing the presentation.

Mister Gastor, a city staff member who presented the reports, told the board the reports have already been filed with the State of Texas and ‘‘by next week we will have these available online, for the public to see on our website.’’ He said TIF No. 2, established in 2011 and running through 2036 across roughly 212 acres, has seen dramatic valuation growth: "the base year value when this was essentially farmland was $37,000 of value. And today, it's sitting at 1,300,000,000.0," which the presentation showed as approximately $1.3 billion. Gastor also reported about $5.9 million in revenues for the zones last year, with developers receiving a little over $5.2 million and an estimated $5.0 million projected to the developer for the current year.

Gastor said DART has not submitted a payment request to date for silver-line-related expenses but that the board anticipates DART’s first request this year: "DART, you'll see, has no payments to date. We are anticipating that their first request will occur this year." He explained that after DART secured financing for the silver line, the developer share of increments for affected parcels dropped to 55% and DART’s share is 11.67%, which helps explain the changes in payout expectations.

On TIF No. 3, Gastor said the base value began at $11 million and that appraised values have risen since the base year but still lag the project-plan projections. He noted that some parcels are tax-exempt — citing a church property included in the financing plan — and said that limited access and exempt parcels have constrained realizable gains in parts of the zone. Gastor read a current valuation figure in the presentation that appears garbled in the transcript; the slide indicated a multi-billion-dollar valuation (reported in the transcript as "$2.02 77,000,000"). The board was told TIF No. 3 brought in about $1.2 million last year and expects similar receipts this year, with roughly $1 million paid to the developer last year and a similar amount anticipated.

A committee member asked whether the city should reduce project-plan forecasts to bring projections closer to actual appraisals. Gastor and another committee member replied that project-plan adjustments are usually made only when required — for example, when property is added to a TIF — because amending plans typically requires consultant work and administrative expense. One committee member referenced prior adjustments to TIF No. 1 that were made after adding territory and under a state law requiring updates when a TIF changes.

Board members also asked about the funds’ investment returns. Gastor said the city’s quarterly investment report has recently outperformed Treasury rates and estimated returns "north of 3.7 or 3.8%" for the last quarter; another committee member reminded the board that public-fund investment rules limit investments to government-backed securities, and that earlier periods had yielded higher returns.

The board set a tentative alternate meeting date of Thursday, July 16, to discuss the next year’s budget; Gastor said he would send a meeting invite to board members. With no further business, Chairperson Ron Taylor adjourned the meeting at 6:47 p.m.

Minutes approval: A motion to approve the minutes of the July 23, 2025 meeting was moved by Mary (board member), seconded by another committee member, and passed 4-0.