GONZALES — Mann Packing became an official part of Gonzales after the Gonzales City Council voted Jan. 22 to annex the business into the city.
The City of Gonzales is trying to put assessment districts in the Agricultural Industrial Business Park, and Mann Packing would be part of the district. According to City Attorney Michael Rodriguez, the City will speak with Mann Packing about what the assessment fee would have been in 2018-19, but it would not be assessed as part of the action the council took Tuesday evening.
“When we revisit this whole process in July, they will be assessed in the same manner as other folks in this assessment Industrial Park,” said Rodriguez. “Basically we need to let them know this is what the assessment would look like if you were part of the district right now.”
The item will come back to the City Council for a public hearing Feb. 19.
The City of Gonzales also considered creating a Finance Authority for the Ag Industrial Park or all the businesses that are on the west side of the railroad tracks.
“Essentially it would generate a future revenue stream to plug into infrastructure,” said City Manager Rene Mendez. “Whether it’s wastewater, our streets or other improvements needed to continue to support the Industrial Park as well as other city impacted facilities.”
Mendez said part of the problem is the agreement between the city and the county and figuring out how to move forward with the Finance Authority.
The Finance Authority would consist of three members of the City Council and two public positions filled by those in the impacted area.
According to the City’s Wildan Consultant, tax increment financing is for an area that is having problems developing and establishing a base amount of taxes that passes through the public agencies, and any taxes beyond that during development goes back into the project. For the City of Gonzales, the funds will be used toward infrastructure.
