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Hays City Commission approves TIF and 2% CID to support Exit 157 truck-stop project amid resident questions
Summary
The Hays City Commission voted 4-0 to adopt a tax increment financing (TIF) project plan and approve a 2% community improvement district (CID) for the Exit 157247 truck-stop travel plaza, after staff outlined estimated revenues, reimbursements and local job projections and a resident asked whether incentives were necessary.
The Hays City Commission on April 1 adopted a TIF project plan and approved a 2% community improvement district (CID) intended to support a developer’s proposed Exit 157247 truck-stop travel plaza and convenience store.
Assistant City Manager Jared Kuckelman said the project would include an approximately 9,000-square-foot travel plaza, fuel pumps (gas and diesel), EV charging stations, a fast-food restaurant, a dog park and RV overnight campsites near I-70 Exit 157. He told the commission the developer is seeking both tax increment financing and a 2% CID as pay-as-you-go incentives to help reimburse eligible infrastructure and site costs.
Kuckelman said the project plan estimates a total investment of about $11.8 million. A cost-benefit analysis included in the plan projects roughly $28 million in net benefit to the city over the life of the incentives, driven primarily by sales-tax revenues, and estimates about 14 direct new jobs from the development. The city-level estimate for incremental property-tax revenue tied to the TIF was roughly $4.5 million over 20 years; the plan also lists approximately $4.7 million as potentially eligible for reimbursement. The CID is estimated to generate about $2.0 million over a 22-year term, Kuckelman said.
During public comment, Hays resident David Koschel asked whether the project would proceed without incentives, saying, “Would this project happen without these incentives?” and warning that incentives redirect future revenue and that a CID increases the sales tax paid by customers. The commission took that concern under advisement during discussion.
Commissioners asked staff about performance metrics. A commissioner noted the city uses a job/investment matrix for some abatements but does not have a similar detailed metric for TIFs; staff responded the CID application does include a metric tied to total investment and a 30% developer equity stake is required as part of CID terms. Staff also confirmed the city’s economic development policy does not allow capturing existing local sales tax as part of TIF revenues and that both the TIF and CID are structured as pay-as-you-go reimbursements, meaning the developer must invest first and receive reimbursements only as revenues are generated.
After the public hearing and discussion the commission voted 4-0 to pass ordinance number 40-97 adopting the TIF project plan and approving the development agreement, and later voted 4-0 to pass ordinance number 40-98 establishing the CID and levying a 2% CID sales tax in the district.
Commissioners and staff said the incentives are intended to spur private investment along the interstate and to encourage further development in that area; one commissioner said he was “excited to finally see us be able to bring a business, and specifically a truck stop to that area.”
The ordinances passed at the meeting allow the developer to move forward under the terms in the project plan and development agreement; the reimbursements are limited to eligible costs and are subject to certification of revenues and the pay-as-you-go structure described in the development agreement.
