Albany developers present 247‑acre TIRZ plan to Young County court; county to consider participation at next meeting

Attorneys and developers presented a petition asking Young County to participate alongside the City of Albany in a property‑owner initiated tax increment reinvestment zone, or TIRZ, covering roughly 247 acres.

At a March meeting of the Young County Commissioners Court, attorney David Earl described the TIRZ tool under Chapter 311 of the Texas statutes and said the proposal would capture only tax revenue generated by new development over a 45‑year term to pay for infrastructure, housing affordability programs and industrial expansion. "This tool allows taxes created by new development in a specified areato be set aside to bring about economic development and pay for infrastructure," Earl said.

David Pratt, who said he represents a 501(c)(3) organizing the county's planned Semiquincentennial July 4 celebration, accompanied the presentation and urged local leaders to support the project’s community benefits. The presenters said the development team projects roughly $50,000,000 in private investment and that the zone would set aside about $6,000,000 to help facilitate home ownership for city, county and hospital employees and other local workers.

Earl told the court the city has already agreed to participate and the hospital district approved its local agreement; he said the TIRZ sponsor expects approximately $10,000,000 in new revenue to flow to the county over the life of the zone and roughly $1.1 million a year to the county after build‑out, while the city’s additional annual revenue at full build‑out was described as about $1.8 million. He also said the plan projects more than $14,000,000 of industrial building expansion and hundreds of jobs created, in addition to construction work.

Presenters described the process and timeline: petitions from property owners have been filed, notices published and public hearings conducted; the city completed first and second readings and established the zone. Under the plan, property owners have petitioned to voluntarily annex some parcels into city limits; a final interlocal and project plan would come back to the court for board appointments and a formal decision.

Commissioners asked about annexation, which parcels are currently inside the city limits, statutory board appointments for the TIRZ board and the legal requirement that some board members be property owners or owner designees. Earl said the local agreement includes language allowing the county to nominate an additional board member and that petitioning landowners will provide necessary agency letters so a county nominee can meet statutory eligibility requirements.

The presentation was informational only; the judge said the court will place county participation on the next meeting agenda for a formal vote. "We're asking the county to basically do the same thing the city is doing," one presenter said. No county vote occurred at the March meeting.