- Welcome to the City of Hico's new website designed by Cave Consulting.
Services include providing area demographics and information, assistance in site selections, incentive packages and arranging meetings with key leadership. All these services are confidential until the company is ready to make their final site selection decision.
The following economic development tools are available for selected projects and negotiated on a case-by-case basis to assist an eligible company to expand and /or relocate to the Hico area. Incentives are based on the number of quality jobs created and direct investment made in the community.
In 1993, the citizens of Hico adopted a one-half of one percent sales tax to promote new and expand existing industrial and manufacturing activities. The sales tax proceeds may be used to fund promotional and development activities related to business attraction/retention; financial assistance to businesses; land and building purchase, lease and upgrade; infrastructure upgrade and placement; and training and education.
The City of Hico will consider a reinvestment zone for the purpose of tax abatements, tax increment financing and public improvement districts.
To promote and retain high-quality development in all parts of the city, the City of Hico and Hamilton County will consider providing property tax abatement on the appraised value of real property improvements and business personal property in accordance with the City’s guidelines and criteria for granting a tax abatement.
The City will consider using Tax Increment Financing to finance needed public improvements in a defined area. The costs of public infrastructure improvements to the area is repaid by the contribution of future tax revenues by each taxing unit that levies taxes against the property.
The Public Improvement District Act allows a city to levy and collect special assessments on a property that is within the city or within the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ). The public improvement district may be formed to accomplish improvements such as water, wastewater, drainage, streets and sidewalks, parking, parks and recreation.
Freeport property is exempt from property tax for various types of goods that are detained in Texas for 175 days or less. The goods must be in Texas only for a limited purpose such as assembly, storage, manufacturing, processing or fabricating. This exemption will be considered by Hico County, the City of Hico, and the Hico Independent School District, potentially providing a triple Freeport Exemption city.
Chapter 380 of the Local Government Code provides legislative authority for municipalities to establish a program for making loans and grants to promote state and local economic development and to stimulate business and commercial activity in the City.
By law, the Hico City Council must consider incentives on a case-by-case basis and incentives cannot be guaranteed until the City Council considers in a formal public meeting. All incentives will be tied to a development guarantee or “clawback” agreement between the developer and the City of Hico. A cost/benefit analysis will be performed on each project.