BROWNSVILLE, Texas - The City of Brownsville is to host a public meeting on its Capital Recovery Fees proposal.
The idea is to impose a one-time charge on developers as they begin new projects. The fees raised would go towards roadway improvements.
The public meeting will be held Monday, January 8, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Brownsville Events Center.
City leaders say the fee will fund specific improvements that would otherwise be paid for by taxes from residents. “Capital Recovery Fees will ensure an increase in property values and attract businesses that will provide new jobs to the community,” a press release from the City explained.
Brownsville City Manager Helen Ramirez promoted the public meeting on social media. She wrote: “Join the City of Brownsville public meeting on the Capital Recovery Fee to learn how it will accelerate the building of new roads, road synchronization, and widen existing roads that will make our roadways safer for vehicles, bikes and pedestrians. See you all on Monday Jan. 8 at 6pm at our Events Center.”
The City has also produced a video to promote the Capital Recovery Fees proposal. The script for the video states:
“Brownsville, Texas, is a place where you don't have to imagine the future because you can already see it, everywhere you look. New homes, new businesses, new jobs. A new era of opportunity and prosperity that will strengthen our community for generations to come. And as we propel our city's growth forward, the proposed Capital Recovery Fee stands as a pivotal mechanism. Its purpose is to ensure that developers actively contribute their equitable portion towards new roads and widening. Through this fee developers will play a role in financing essential infrastructure projects, such as the construction of new roads, thereby alleviating the burden on taxpayers who would traditionally bear these costs. The future of Brownsville isn't just exciting, it’s positively extraordinary. And we're creating it together. Learn more about Brownsville capital recovery www.brownsvilletx.gov.”
City officials tried to sell the Capital Recovery Fee proposal to members of the Brownsville-South Padre Island Board of Realtors at a meeting on Dec. 4. The realtors were not particularly receptive. They said it would suppress development.
The Rio Grande Guardian International News Service was the only news media outlet present at the meeting.
Here is reporter Antonio Vindell’s story from the meeting:
BROWNSVILLE, Texas – A new fee the City of Brownsville is proposing on home and business constructions is causing a stir among developers who claim it will hinder economic growth instead of future prosperity.
Under a project called Capital Recovery Fee, people applying for building permits will be assessed an average of $2,000 to pay for an estimated $27 million the city wants to have in an account to be ready for an expected increase in population estimated at more than 248,600 by 2033, compared to a little more than 211,000 today.
The number of units are to rise from 61,018 now to 75,702 by the year 2033.
The fees would change as the plan calls for dividing the city into 19 sections.
For a large commercial business, such as a big box measuring 159,000-square-foot, the fee would be $31,000 or more.
In light of that expected growth, the fee could go into effect 12 months after the city commission adopts the initiative.
City officials met with the Brownsville-South Padre Island Board of Realtors on Monday, Dec. 4, to explain the specifics of the plan. Realtors and developers say the plan will be counterproductive to the future of the Rio Grande Valley’s largest city.
City Manager Helen Ramirez said every municipality has its own transportation plans and this city is the region’s largest provider of public transportation serving about 1.7 million passengers a year.
It also has 800 miles of streets, adding it would cost $146.6 million to repair all the streets in need of improvement.
That, however, does not include what is coming next if more people move here, more houses and business are constructed while the cost of building continues to rise as it has been in the last three years.
“The commission supports street improvement projects,” she said. ”We are now proposing one more alternative to help the city develop.”
It costs more than $1.2 million to reconstruct a linear mile of road and from $6 million to $7.3 million to reconstruct a new mile of road, city officials said.
But the bottom line is about improving the quality of life, they added.
Ramirez said multiple sources of funding are required to undertake huge city projects such as this one and they will continue to seek alternative ways such as through general obligation bonds, special tax funds, transportation user fees, among others.
For the board of realtors and its members, the need to get ready for future growth is definitively there but how to go about it as the city is proposing is an unanswered question.
Bill Hudson is a local entrepreneur who developed 100 acres of land at FM 802 and Paredes Line Road.
He said the proposed fees are going to hurt this area, which he referred to as one of the poorest in the country.
Ramiro Martinez, the board’s president, said assessing $2,000 on a new home owner is going to create a hardship as that money could be used by a buyer to take care of closing costs.
Roy De Los Santos, a city commissioner, said he doesn’t think the city has looked thoroughly at this CRF. He said the city should take into consideration the concerns of realtors and developers.
He is also wondering how the fee structure would impact the developers of affordable housing.
Developer Jimmy Barnard said the proposed fee will impact him directly.
He said he also concerned about something else.
“That is with accountability,” he said. “How is his money going to be used? Does this solve the problem? I don’t think so.”
