SAN ANGELO – A split San Angelo City Council Tuesday denied the requests of six business owners to take Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone funding from the Lake View or northern TIRZ zone to use on projects in the southern TIRZ zone over the recommendation of the TIRZ board of directors.
One of the six business owners was Lee Pfluger who owns the Cactus Hotel. His request was for $69,545 to remove letters from the Cactus Hotel sign on the top of the historic hotel which has been an eyesore for decades. The TIRZ board had recommended funding the request at 75% for $52,159.
The council had an extended discussion about the Cactus Hotel project and the policy in general of moving money from the north TIRZ zone to the south TIRZ zone just because there are more projects in the downtown area requesting funding than there are projects in the north or Lake View area.
The Council voted four to three to deny Pfluger's request as well as the other requests from business owners in the south zone.
Council members voting to deny the requests were Larry Miller, Karen Hesse-Smith, Lucie Gonzales and Mayor Brenda Gunter.
Council members Tom Thompson, Harry Thomas and Tommy Hebert voted in favor of shifting the TIRZ funds from the north to the south.
Here's the video report from our LIVE! show Tuesday afternoon:
According to the city's website, the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone, or TIRZ, was created in 2006 to preserve the near and long-term integrity of the economic and social investment in the designated area and to encourage additional new projects within that area. The TIRZ board makes recommendations related to that mission and those efforts to the City Council. The board was reorganized by ordinance on May 18, 2016. Details of the new TIRZ board are outlined below.
Incentives
The TIRZ district has two eligibility areas for incentives: the TIRZ-North and the TIRZ-South. Within these areas, a variety of incentive types are available to encourage revitalization and infill development of properties in these key locations. Please click hereto review the TIRZ-South Policy and here to review the TIRZ-North Policy to see if your business or property qualifies. The next window cycle for both the North and South zones will open in November.
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