City Council member Travis Mitchell told the Hays CISD school board last night that the board’s vote to approve a freeport tax exemption is personal and "a big one" to the City and that "several very exciting projects" that "can benefit our community in a very meaningful and impactful way" are waiting in the wings should that approval be forthcoming.
Later in the meeting, a city official said one of those projects alone could more than compensate the district for any losses it might incur by granting the exemption.
Mitchell was the only person to speak about the proposed tax exemption during the citizens comments period of last night’s board meeting.
The agenda for the meeting called for "consideration and possible action regarding adoption" of a motion that would exempt certain business inventory from property taxes levied by the school district. However, about an hour before the meeting was to commence, word came down that last night’s meeting was to be a work session only and no action would be taken.
A vote is expected next week, however, and the feeling among observers is the board will approve the exemption, by a 5-2 or even a 6-1 margin. If it does approve the measure, Kyle will achieve the distinction of becoming a designated "triple freeport" community, meaning all three major area taxing authorities — the city, the county and the school district — will have granted this exemption, which essentially exempts non-petroleum related inventory that’s kept within a business for less than 175 days from being subject to property taxes.
Many major business concerns only choose to locate in areas with triple freeport exemptions. These exemptions are, for example, the reason why the Amazon distribution center recently located in San Marcos and Samsung chose Manor for the location of a major manufacturing facility.
The school district has waited a long time to come around to granting the exemptions, party because of objections raised by no-growth board members and community activists, but also because those willing to support it wanted to negotiate separate contracts with eight local companies — CFAN, Goodrich UTC, RSI, Henderson Controls, Southwestern Pneumatic, Cabela’s, Ampersand Art Supply and the Fat Quarter Shop — to phase in the exemptions over a five-year period so that increased state funding during this period would neutralize the loss of revenue resulting from the exemptions. The board was informed last night the district has in its possession all eight signed contracts.
"I’ve spoken to many of you on this issue," Mitchell told the board. "It’s very personal to me and to the City as well."
The councilman acknowledged those from the Kyle Chamber of Commerce, City of Kyle officials and various economic development activists attending the meeting who support the exemption. "This is a big one for us," he said, "and it’s a big one for the school board. We recognize just how thorough you’ve been and find no fault whatsoever in taking time to really make sure you make a wise decision.
"We’ve got several very exciting projects that are waiting patiently for triple freeport," Mitchell told the board. "We look forward to being able to show, if you would support it, just how much that can benefit our community in a very meaningful and impactful way right up front."
Later in the meeting, when school board member Willie Tenorio, a member of the anti-exemption faction, pressed for information on exactly who or what those "exciting projects" were, an extremely hoarse Kyle Economic Development Director Diane Torres told him "The projects that council member Mitchell referred to are still highly confidential. I can speak to the fact that in just one of them it would more than cover the net $48,000 after year five going forward."
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