You Decide Which is Truth:

The following is an excerpt from a letter that will be read in the City Council Meeting of  4/25/05 for North Richland Hills Texas

This letter is presented as factual and truthful and is signed by Larry Cunningham, City Manager, NRH

You can view the entire letter here:  hometown letter 4-19.pdf

TIF#2 was created by action of our City Council and NOT by petition.

The following is copied from the State Website of Carol Keeton Strayhorn the State Comptroller: 

Verification of this information is available at the following link:  http://www.window.state.tx.us/specialrpt/ecodev03/08ch5.html

TIF may also be initiated by a city council without the need for a petition. If not initiated by petition, an area may be considered for tax increment financing only if it meets at least one of the following three criteria:

• the area’s present condition must substantially impair the city’s growth, retard the provision of housing, or constitute an economic or social liability to the public health, safety, morals or welfare. Further, this condition must exist because of the presence of one or more of the following conditions: a substantial number of substandard or deteriorating structures, inadequate sidewalks or street layout, faulty lot layouts, unsanitary or unsafe conditions, a tax or special assessment delinquency that exceeds the fair market value of the land, defective or unusual conditions of title, or conditions that endanger life or property by fire or other cause; or
  
   
• the area is predominately open, and because of obsolete platting, deteriorating structures or other factors, it substantially impairs the growth of the city; or
  
   
• the area is in or adjacent to a “federally-assisted new community” as defined under Tax Code Section 311.005(b).

Within developed areas of the city, the reason usually cited to justify a reinvestment zone is that the area’s condition substantially impairs the city’s growth because of a substantial number of substandard or deteriorating structures. If the area is not developed, the city often indicates that the area is predominately open, and that it substantially impairs the growth of the city because of obsolete platting, deteriorating structures, or other factors.

The Texas Tax Code places several further restrictions on the creation of a reinvestment zone for tax increment financing:

• no more than 10 percent of the property within the reinvestment zone (excluding publicly-owned property) may be used for residential purposes. This requirement does not apply if the district is created pursuant to a petition of the landowners;
  
   
• a reinvestment zone may not contain property that cumulatively would exceed 15 percent of the total appraised property value within the city and its industrial districts; and
  
   
• a city also may not create a reinvestment zone or change the boundaries of an existing zone if the zone would contain more than 15 percent of the total appraised value of real property taxable by a county or school district.

Subject to the above limitations, the city council that created the tax increment financing zone may reduce or enlarge the boundaries by ordinance or resolution. If a city council enlarges the boundaries of a tax increment reinvestment zone, a school district is not required to pay into the tax increment fund any of the district’s tax increment produced from property located in the added area.

The bold highlighting was added for your attention.  

The letter also contains lies about the remaining parking.  Check out the attached photo and count them for yourself:  Library Aerial View