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Copperas Cove council approves Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone No. 2 to spur development
Summary
The City Council adopted Ordinance No. 2026‑17 establishing Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone No. 2, a sprawling reinvestment zone covering properties inside and adjacent to Copperas Cove; consultants estimated roughly $416 million of capital projects and projected up to $620 million of contributions among participating jurisdictions under conservative assumptions.
The Copperas Cove City Council voted to adopt Ordinance No. 2026‑17, creating Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) No. 2 to encourage coordinated infrastructure and development on more than 2,500 acres within and near the city.
City Manager Ryan Havela and consultant Bill Calderon presented the ordinance and an attached preliminary plan describing proposed boundaries, a capital budget and a financing section. Calderon told council the plan lists an estimated $416,000,000 in capital improvements over the life of the zone and includes a $50,000,000 placeholder for residential negotiation and annexation costs. He said, under conservative assumptions and a 30‑year horizon with multi‑jurisdictional participation, the zone could generate just over $620,000,000 in contributions toward project costs.
Calderon described expected participation as an assumed 50% split among the city, Coryell County and Lampasas County where parcels lie in those jurisdictions and noted that some territory in the reinvestment zone lies in the extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) and would require annexation before the city could apply its tax increment to those properties. "There's a total estimated cost of about $416,000,000 that might be spent on capital improvements over the life of the Reinvestment Zone," Calderon said, and added that financial schedules calculate each parcel individually.
Council members asked about the geographic scope, the inclusion of parcels that might develop without an incentive and how board appointments would be made. Staff and the consultant explained the ordinance sets a five‑member board with three city appointees and one appointee each from participating counties; the city retains the plurality of appointments. After discussion, a motion to adopt Ordinance No. 2026‑17 passed on a roll‑call vote with councilmembers recorded in the transcript as voting Aye: Christina Strophos, Rita Hogan, Howard Hawk and Dale Chudway; Nay: John Hale and Jack Smith. The motion carried and the ordinance was adopted.
Adoption allows staff and the Economic Development Corporation to move forward with project‑level planning, annexation discussions where necessary, and financing steps described in the plan. Staff said annexation and individual parcel calculations will be handled as the next steps and that more detailed budget schedules and participation agreements will follow.
