DDA Considering New Retail Incentives
BY KIMBERLY SVATEK
HERALD DEMOCRAT

With the blessing of the Denison City Council, the Denison Development Alliance will consider new retail incentives to boost the retail market within the city.

Scott Smathers, Denison Development Alliance Vice-President of Business Development, is proposing the City of Denison provide three types of incentives to local businesses which may be wanting to renovate or expand and to those retailers looking to come in.

The DDA Board of Directors will meet at 5 p.m. Monday in council chambers to discuss marketing the incentive plan.

The plan calls for the use of 4A sales tax funds to provide infrastructure support where it does not already exist, provide city ad valorem tax rebates over a five-year period and provide sales tax rebates for individual stores.

Smathers said the intention of the incentives is “to get the retailers attention to the market, help current businesses with incentives and encourage improvement in some areas of town.”

The proposal calls for the city to use the 380 Municipality Agreement to offer the incentives because the agreement allows the city to offer incentives with more flexibility and quicker response times than allowed with establishing re-investment zones.

The program would be revenue neutral, Smathers said, meaning there would be no loss of taxes to the city. All incentive plans would have to be approved by the Council.