Near Southside Inc.
The Fort Worth City Council on Tuesday unanimously extended the Tax Increment Financing District for the Near Southside for another 10 years.
TIF 4 was scheduled to expire at the end of 2022. But under new terms with Near Southside Inc., the advocacy group overseeing development just south of downtown and which manages TIF 4 for the city, it’s likely several projects in the pipeline, as well as a waitlist of others, can receive some funding.
“We began to look at some of the longer-term infrastructure needs within TIF 4 and realized this was a little bit of a different beast from some of our other TIFs,” said Robert Sturns, the city’s economic development director.
TIF 4 was created in 1997 and has helped with developments in the South Main Village, Evans and Rosedale area, Magnolia Village, the Medical District and Fairmount, among others.
TIF 4 is bounded to the north by Interstate 30 and Vickery Boulevard and to the south by Allen Avenue and West Arlington Avenue. The TIF extends east of I-35W to Kentucky Avenue.
A tax increment finance district collects tax revenue within a certain geographic area to fund larger infrastructure improvements on both public and private development in targeted areas. TIFs are often credited with making significant improvements to a district.
Under the new terms, TIF 4 will receive 30% of the money generated by the tax increment, which is a reduced portion. The remaining 70% will go to the City’s General Fund to lower the City’s tax rate and the Economic Development Initiatives Fund established earlier this year.
The extension will start Jan. 1. It will generate an estimated $31.5 million, according to the city. The money will be collected and spent during the first nine years of the new term, while the last year would solely focus on spending down remaining money and other administrative work.