BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS - Jorge Jasso, a teacher from Brownsville, has urged his city commission to “look after the little guy” if and when it decides to impose its Capital Recovery Fees.
The plan is to impose a one-time charge on developers as they begin new projects. The fees raised would go towards roadway improvements.
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.
Jasso spoke passionately about the first time home owner at a public meeting about the Capital Recovery Fee proposal hosted by the City of Brownsville and their consultants, Freese & Nichols. Jasso said he owns property and might want to one day give one of the properties to his son, who was with him at the meeting. “The City might change me $2,000 under this new proposal, when I go to get a permit. Maybe that is fair enough but why are they giving exemptions to others?” Jasso asked in an interview with the Rio Grande Guardian later.
“The average citizen has a lot at stake with this proposal. How much is this fee going to be. They will not tell us. We’ll get there when we get there is their answer,” Jasso said.
Jasso quizzed Edmund Haas, transportation planning manager for Freese & Nichols, and Brownsville Mayor John Cowen, Jr.
“This is what I am worried about,” Jasso told the Guardian, after the public meeting had ended. “What if they decide affordable housing is $100,000. Look online. It is hard to find a $100,000 home. What about the person on minimum wage who has saved all their lives. That person buys a home for $120,000. They are going to get hit with that (Capital Recovery Fee). Whereas somebody who has received money to remodel their property downtown, they are going to get an exemption. That is not fair.”
Jasso said he would like to know how much the Capital Revery Fee is going to be. He said he would attend the next public meeting, to be held at City Hall next week, in order to find out.
“Somebody knows,” Jasso said. “I not worried about the developers. They have their money. I am talking about people like me, that has worked their entire lives, they should be protected.”
One of the developers at the meeting was Javier Peña, CFO and co-founder of Luceca Industrial and Commercial Construction. Peña wanted to know why Brownsville is looking to impose a Capital Recovery Fee on new development when other cities in the Rio Grande Valley, such as McAllen, Edinburg, and Weslaco, are giving incentives for builders to develop.
Mayor Cowen answered the concerns of Jasso and the developers in the room.
“We don't want to discourage people who are trying to build equity and buying a housing and working their way up from the bottom. That’s not the intention here,” Cowen said. “The intention is… we have very low appraisal rates, we don't have enough tax revenue to take care of our own infrastructure, and we don't have enough tax revenue to take care of the growth that is happening to our current infrastructure. That's why this (Capital Recovery Fee) is really important.”
Cowen said the Capital Recovery Fee is “an important tool” because the state restricts how much property taxes the City can charge people.
“Our tax rate is going down. The state restricts how much property taxes we can collect. We can only grow our property tax base three and a half percent. So what happens when inflation is at eight percent? We can't pass along that cost. We are being squeezed as a city.”
Cowen added: “I'm a businessman. I'm a developer too. I understand why you guys are coming from. But I'm also on the other side of the table. I’ve got to make this work. So we’ve got to come together and understand why we're doing it and how everyone's going to benefit. Developers will benefit.”
The City of Brownsville 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.”
Here is a video recording of part of the Q&A section of the public meeting:
https://youtu.be/bGpGJPh0hk4
