Photo by: Alexis Scott

Action 10 News

During the hearing, there were no comments from community members regarding the agreements. The Director of Planning and Community Development, Daniel McGinn, presented the details of the agreement to council members.

According to the city, they are currently negotiating with as many as 80 companies located within the city's Extra-Territorial Jurisdictions (ETJ).

Here are maps that show the involved industrial districts:

The city began utilizing IDAs in 1981 to enhance economic stability. Under the agreements, the city collects annual payments in lieu of property taxes. In return, the city will not annex the land.

"We collect a payment in lieu of taxes, which is going to increase to 74.5% of the taxes on improvements. They do pay 100% of taxes on land as if they were inside of the city limits," Assistant City Manager Heather Hurlbert said.

However, if a company does not sign the new IDA, it will be included in the city limits and the city will begin providing them services like fire and police, solid waste, road maintenance, water and more.

"If we were to annex all of the properties in, we would have to spend more money on fire, on police. We feel like we negotiated a fair agreement with our industries," Hurlbert said.

The new IDAs are in place for 15 years instead of 10 years, which city leaders believe will allow for more opportunities for economic incentives.

"Really it's an economic development tool to attract and retain industry within the area," Hurlbert added. "Maybe instead of paying 100% of the taxes, they're able to take that savings and reinvest it back in for expansion, for improvement on their operations."

The city said they're still waiting to hear back from several companies before annexation officially begins.

The current IDAs expire Dec. 31. The new IDAs go into effect Jan. 1.

City leaders will hold another public hearing at the next council meeting. Annexation on the properties that do not sign the IDA will begin in December.