That’s the proposal EIC board member Jessy T. Garza recommended to his colleagues during the group’s regular monthly meeting on Thursday.
He said the EIC has limited funds to hand out each year, and the economic development organization needs to more wisely allocate the 4b sales tax funds the city receives annually.
“One of my concerns has been that we have a system where we ask projects that come before us to be sent to a committee of three or four board members, and those board members review the project and come back and make a recommendation... and typically it is approved — 99.9 percent of the time it is approved; it’s a done deal,” Garza explained.
“I think the problem with this (system) is — I’ve looked at some of the projects that have been approved — is whether a proper analysis has been done. Does the project, in fact, meet the requirements of the law?”
The 4b sales tax revenue is a portion of the sales tax collected by local merchants monthly and forwarded to the state, which returns a portion to communities for economic development projects.
The Beeville Economic Improvement Corp. was organized by the city to oversee its allocation of the 4b sales tax revenue.
The EIC board makes recommendations and forwards those recommendations to the city council, which ultimately decides whether projects are funded or not.
For the most part, the law governing the use of 4b sales tax revenue requires the grants to be used to create a specific number of new jobs.
However, the law allows communities with populations of less than 20,000 to spend the funds on economic development projects that simply promote new or expanded business development, even if they don’t create a specific number of new jobs.
However, Garza noted, some of the projects approved by the EIC in the past did not improve the local economy.
“I think you’ve had a couple of projects come down from committee where that (provision of the law) hasn’t been carefully looked at,” he said. “When we see these projects, we have to actually make that determination, make a careful economic evaluation of these projects to determine whether in fact they have positive economic impact on the community.”
City Manager Tom Ginter agreed the city and the EIC should weigh each project carefully in order to maximize the use of the 4b sales tax revenue.
He said he would research how other communities screen economic development projects and share his findings with the board at a later date.
“Look, this community is hurting,” Garza said, citing the U.S. Bureau of Labor’s recent report that Bee County’s unemployment rate has risen over 10 percent. “Which projects are going to benefit this community the most? Those are the projects that have a more direct economic impact.”
Projects to be considered next are those with indirect economic impact, such as remodeling store fronts or infrastructure improvements such as extending water and sewer lines, he said.
Quality of life projects, such as the restoration of the Rialto Theater, parks projects and golf cart paths have a minimal economic impact and thus should not be considered for grant funding, he said.
“At the bottom of the scale, in terms of economic impact, are parks projects, quality of life projects, the Rialto Theater,” Garza said. “Those have the least economic impact. Nothing galls me more than to drive up Cleveland Street and look at the pavilion project.”
The downtown pavilion project was partially funded with a grant from the EIC.
Garza said the pavilion is not being utilized.
“I ask myself is that an optimal utilization of the monies we gave for that project,” he noted, conceding that he bears some of the blame because he voted in favor of awarding the grant. “I think that when we have these projects brought to us we have to take a very critical look at these projects and see, does this project really make sense, or are we approving it simply because it was brought to us?”
He recommended the board build a portfolio of economic improvement projects to help them determine the merits of future projects and grant requests.
That way, Garza explained, projects that have minimal economic impact “can be tossed out or deferred.”
Board member William “Bill” Shroyer wondered if the state of Texas didn’t offer educational courses on the use of 4b sales tax revenue and economic development funds.
Garza suggested the board scrutinize the project once it is underway and once it has been completed.
“We need to be out there making sure the money we give is being spent in the manner proposed and that it is being spent correctly and in a manner consistent with the way the project was presented to us,” he said.
“I’m advocating a more critical review of these projects, to ensure not only do they meet the letter of the legislation, but that they make sense for this community,” Garza explained.
Board President Jody Alaniz agreed such scrutiny is needed for the EIC to get the most bang for its buck.
He cited one instance in which he believed a project was approved by the EIC board without proper vetting: the recent funding of the golf cart paths at the Beasley Municipal Course.
“There is a problem out there with the cart paths,” he explained. “It’s kind of vague what the contractor has to do out there. He is kind of doing what he wants to do, and different issues have been brought up to me about the kind of job he is doing.”
The EIC recommended and city council approved awarding $175,000 in 4b sales tax for the cart paths project.
Garza asked Alaniz how the project got the green light with such a vague contract.
“You and I were at the city council meeting; how come everything was coming up roses when this project was discussed?” Garza asked Alaniz.
“Because the contractor was at the meeting,” Alaniz surmised.
“So nobody wanted to say anything in front of the contractor?” Garza asked.
“Obviously,” Alaniz replied.
Garza said such circumstances illustrate the need for the EIC board to scrutinize the projects once they are funded.
In other action Thursday, the board also:
• elected Shroyer as vice president, Leticia Muñoz as secretary and Mike Marshall as treasurer.
• agreed in concept to help fund the Beeville Main Street Program over the next 12 months with a $20,000 grant. However, the allocation comes with a stipulation that the Main Street Program provide a detailed report on how it planned to spend the $20,000.
• turned down a grant request from the Joe Barnhart Bee County Library on the grounds it is not allowed by law.
• agreed to ask City Manager Ginter if he could and would accept the position as full-time economic development administrator for the EIC if he could fit it in his schedule and if it was allowable by law. Ginter said it was common for city managers to hold both positions at the same time, but he would see if he could fit the duties into his schedule.
• agreed to pay to have the wastewater line extended to the 2500 block of North St. Mary’s Street for use by the Navy Army Federal Credit Union, which plans to build a new office building on the site. The property is located across the street from Tractor Supply Co.
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