Tax Increment Reinvestment Zones keep a lot of the tax revenues within its boundaries. But that means taxes generated above a set baseline are not shared with the rest of the city. Mayor Bill White says that creates a situation where some areas benefit over others.
“Right now, you have the areas with the highest property value of the city like downtown and the Galleria area for example, who pay a much, much, much smaller percentage of their property taxes for things like the salaries of police officers than do other parts of the city.”
Council members like Pam Holm and Toni Lawrence defended TIRZs.
“I understand clearly what you’re saying in money is there is misused for the infrastructure. I know that sometimes we don’t agree on this, but I think that there are opportunities in the city our size, as large as we are, that we manage it. We put the criteria the city that we manage and it gives us opportunity, really for more infrastructure.”
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Mayor White says they need to find a way for the entire city to share revenue.
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White says soon almost half the money available for capital improvements within the city under the general fund will be within the TIRZ.
UPDATE: Unsurprisingly, Cory Crow covered this yesterday, and I’m late to see it. He remembers Mayor White’s previous stance on TIRZs. It differs from his latest stance.
