The City Council previously adopted Ordinance No. 15733 (M&C G-14137), under which the City has elected to participate in the Texas Enterprise Zone Program. The City Council subsequently amended Ordinance No. 15733 on May 12, 2015 to update the list of potential local incentives that may be provided to a project on a case-by-case basis (Ordinance No. 21743-05-2015, M&C G-18473).
Chapter 791 of the Texas Government Code authorizes the formulation of Interlocal Cooperation Agreements between and among municipalities and counties for the performance of governmental functions. Chapter 2303 of the Texas Government Code, the Texas Enterprise Zone Act, permits the governing body of a county to nominate for designation as an Enterprise Project a project or activity of a qualified business that is located within the jurisdiction of a municipality located in the county. The nominating county must enter into an Interlocal Agreement with the municipality that has jurisdiction of the territory in which the nominated project or activity will be located.
Both the City of Fort Worth and Tarrant County agree to approve the nomination for Higginbotham Insurance Agency, Inc. (Higginbotham) and Alcon Research, Ltd. (Alcon), as Enterprise Projects. Said nominations will be considered a part of Tarrant County's allocated Enterprise Project designations and will have no impact on the City's permitted nine designations per biennium, as permitted under Section 2303.406(d) of the Texas Government Code. The Higginbotham expansion, located at 901 Lake Street, qualifies for a single Enterprise Project Designation with a projected capital investment of $6,200,000.00. The new facility will serve as an extension to their corporate campus located at 500 West 13th Street. Higginbotham will retain 243 jobs and 60 new jobs will be created, with wages averaging $110,000.00. Alcon, located at 6201 South Freeway, qualifies for a single Enterprise Project Designation with a projected capital investment of $153,000,000.00 in a "Production Capacity Expansion & Compliance Initiative." This investment consists of new purchases to upgrade or replace aging production equipment and remediate gaps between internal and external quality control measures. Alcon will retain 1,387 jobs with wages averaging $98,000.00.
If awarded an Enterprise Project designation, Higginbotham and Alcon will each be eligible to apply for state sales and use tax refunds on qualified expenditures. A single project designation allows for a state sales and use tax refund on qualified expenditures of $2,500.00 per job, for up to 500 jobs, with a maximum benefit of $1,250,000.00 over a five year period. Under the Texas Enterprise Zone Act, at least 25 percent of the business' new or retained employees will be residents of an enterprise zone, economically disadvantaged individuals or veterans. In addition, the jobs will be provided through the end of the designation period or at least three years after the date on which a state benefit is received, whichever is later. These state benefits have no fiscal impact on the City's General Fund.
The Higginbotham project is located in COUNCIL DISTRICT 9, Mapsco 76D. The Alcon project is located in COUNCIL DISTRICT 8, Mapsco 91X. This contract will be with a governmental entity, state agency or public institution of higher education: Tarrant County, Texas. |