Council approves 15.7-acre expansion of TIRZ No. 1 after developer petition

The City Council voted to expand the boundaries of Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) No. 1 to include roughly 15.7 acres that are proposed for the Presidium multifamily development.

City staff (Mr. Raley) explained that state law allows property owners or a majority of area owners to petition for inclusion and that the city is at a residential cap for TIRZ composition; staff emphasized this is a policy decision with financial trade-offs. "If the boundary were expanded to include this area, any increase in the taxable valuation would be added to and captured in the TIRZ No. 1 fund balance," Raley said, noting that the petition did not request county participation for this parcel.

Bob Rotor, representing the landowners, urged council to accept the petition and said this request is not currently a funding request but a boundary-inclusion step: "This is not a request for funding at this point in time, but getting inside the boundaries of the TIRZ is a barrier to entry," he told the council. Rotor said the parcel is part of the town-center study and could generate substantial ad valorem value as a high-rise multifamily site.

After council discussion about competing priorities inside the TIRZ and infrastructure needs downtown, Mayor Pro Tem Franklin moved to close the public hearing and approve the request; the motion carried on a vote reported as 6 in favor and 1 against.

The action adds the parcel to the TIRZ boundary; staff advised council on the financial implications (tax increment captured by the TIRZ fund vs. the general fund) and said no county participation was sought for this parcel at this time.