The rules Denton uses to decide which businesses get city cash grants, tax rebates and loans are up for a rewrite at Tuesday's City Council meeting.
The council is set to consider a resolution adopting a revised Chapter 380 incentive policy on Oct. 27. Chapter 380 of the Texas Local Government Code lets cities make grants and loans of public money to promote economic development, and Denton's policy spells out who can apply and what the city weighs.
The Economic Development Partnership Board reviewed the draft on Sept. 30 and recommended it 10-0.
What would change
According to the staff summary in the council packet, the update would:
- Replace the "strategic growth areas" in the 2024 version with a list of targeted industry sectors: advanced manufacturing, advanced mobility, aviation and aerospace, creative industries and cultural venues, information technology, life sciences, renewable energy, and research and development. The draft says companies outside those sectors can still apply.
- Add redevelopment grants aimed at retail centers, covering work such as demolition, environmental remediation, signs, landscaping and parking lots, along with projects that address retail leakage, meaning shopping dollars that leave the city.
- Create a Site Readiness grant for work that makes property easier to develop, including Phase I environmental assessments, title review and cleanup coordinated with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
- Drop the "knowledge-based jobs" category and redefine higher-wage jobs as those paying at least the Denton County average wage, instead of $65,000 or more.
- Lower a minimum performance threshold from 90% to 75%. In the draft policy, companies must reach at least 75% of the projected taxable value in their agreement within 24 months after a permit is issued for a new project, or 50% for an expansion. Staff said the board asked in June to start that 24-month clock at permit issuance rather than at signing of the agreement.
- Add consideration for projects that support the Design Downtown Plan, the Southeast Denton Master Plan or the Denton Municipal Airport master plan, plus growth considerations for entrepreneurial, tech and aviation projects.
- Add language on public purpose meant to keep incentives from being treated as an unconstitutional gift of public money, and remove the Catalyst Fund language and the qualified census tract maps.
Staff said the cleanup would shorten the policy from 12 pages to nine.
