DEPARTMENT: Finance
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Troy Elliott
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: District 1
SUBJECT:
Contract for Collection of the San Antonio Downtown Public Improvement District Assessments
SUMMARY:
Ordinance approving a Contract for Collection of the San Antonio Downtown Public Improvement District Assessments with Bexar County for a term of one (1) year commencing July 1, 2020, and expiring on June 30, 2021with automatic annual renewal terms.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Since 1999, the City has levied a special assessment to fund supplemental service for the Public Improvement District (“PID”). The PID boundary currently includes parcels in the downtown area bounded by Interstate 35, Brooklyn Avenue, Interstate 37 and Cesar Chavez Boulevard. Commercial property owners within the PID boundary currently pay a special assessment rate of fifteen cents ($.15) per one-hundred-dollar valuation; the rate for residential property owners is nine cents ($.09) per one-hundred-dollar valuation. For FY 2020, there are 922 accounts in the PID, with a total taxable value of $3.3 billion. Additionally, there are agreements with the City, Bexar County, CPS Energy and VIA for contributions to the PID for parcels within the boundary owned by those entities.
The collection of the PID levy has historically been administered by the City’s Finance Department. This Contract for the Collection of San Antonio Downtown Public Improvement District Assessments (“Contract”) with Bexar County has a term of one (1) year commencing July 1, 2020, and expiring on June 30, 2021with an automatic annual renewal terms for the collection functions including billing, collection, issuing of refunds, and reporting by the Bexar County Tax Assessor-Collector’s Office. The revenue collected for the PID by the County will be transferred to the City on a daily basis. Other administrative functions such as forecasting, and revenue accounting will remain the responsibility of the City’s Finance Department.
ISSUE:
This Contract will allow for the Bexar County Tax Assessor-Collector’s Office to administer the collection functions related to the PID assessment. The collection of the PID by the County will allow for an efficient collection process with the ability to consolidate and manage property valuation adjustments.
ALTERNATIVES:
The City has the option to not approve the Contract, however this Contract will allow for a more efficient collection of the PID assessment.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The fee charged to City to collect the PID will be a per account fee of $1.81 per annuum. On an annual basis, this rate will be reviewed and adjusted as necessary and as approved by City Council and Bexar County. Based upon the current number of accounts, which total 991, the estimated total cost to the City’s General Fund is $1,668.00. Funding for this contract is included and available in the FY 2020 Adopted General Fund Budget. Funding for future fiscal years is contingent upon City Council adoption of future fiscal years budgets.
RECOMMENDATION:
City Staff recommends the approval of the Contract for collection of the San Antonio Downtown Public Improvement District Assessments with Bexar County.