A lack of sales tax revenue stemming from too many homes and not enough businesses is leading city officials to strategize methods of bringing more commerce to the city.
So far in fiscal year 2018, the city has collected a total of $17,542,232 dollars of sales and property tax revenue, with 78 percent of that amount coming from property taxes.
According to the city of Kyle Economic Development Strategic Plan, the city outlines methods to expand economic development through target industries that can aid the city’s growth.
These recommendations include high tech manufacturing, destination recreation, professional/ business services and medical, all of which were assessed by The Natelson Dale Group, Inc., which worked with the city on the plan.
Mayor Travis Mitchell said there is a difference between a growing pain and a growing problem, with Kyle experiencing the former.
“The business community has been slower to invest in Kyle than the residential community,” Mitchell said. “Staff and council understand just how important it is to bring employment opportunities to Kyle. We are working every single day to land a major employer and will not stop until that goal is realized.”
Diana Blank-Torres, director of Economic Development, said the city’s goal is to be a full service community with a commercial side that supports the residential.
According to Kyle’s Economic Development website, the city has seen an increase of more than 700 percent growth-rate since 2000. The target areas of commercial growth outlined in the plan give the city a clear idea of which commercial markets to target.
Since the 2014 fiscal year, the city has seen an increase in sales tax and property tax revenue collected, but the property tax revenue has historically provided more income for the city.
“The commercial is trying to keep up but it’s having a harder time,” Blank-Torres said. “We’ve done a great job to diversify our residential and it helps recruit companies to the city because we can provide executive housing for our job market.”
Black-Torres said the support of residential growth will help provide the housing needs for the growing job market in the future.
Economic Development is doing a lot of work behind the scenes and meeting with potential prospects to assess how businesses can impact the community, based on the city’s plan, she said.
The planning takes time, but the goal is to identify the target jobs to recruit.
“Without the residential product on the ground it is difficult to recruit,” Blank-Torres said. “Both the commercial and residential growth go hand in hand.”
