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City council discussed simplifying the city's Demolition/Rebuild Program and potentially increasing vacant building registration fees during their April 29 special meeting.
Since 2009, Farmers Branch has offered incentives to homeowners and developers who demolish older homes to build new ones, currently providing up to $30,000 in cash grants and seven years of city property tax rebates depending on the property's assessed value.
City Manager Ben Williamson proposed standardizing the program to make it more understandable for residents and council members alike.
"The goal here is to say, council, in this approach, this would be much cleaner, simpler, easier for everybody — the builders, the residents, the future residents, staff, you all — to talk about the program," Williamson said.
The proposed changes would align measurements to total taxable value increase rather than improvement value, create standardized cash grant amounts and tax rebate periods and potentially limit the number of applications per fiscal year for budgeting purposes.
Williamson presented one hypothetical example of a property with a minimum taxable value increase of $300,000 would receive a $10,000 cash grant (paid 50 percent after demolition and 50 percent upon certificate of occupancy) and a four-year property tax rebate.
Councilmember Tina Bennett-Burton, who requested the program review along with Mayor Terry Lynne, supported standardization but wanted to gather builder feedback.
"I would like the opportunity to engage with, at a minimum, the four primary builders in Farmers Branch to get their input, because they're the ones who are directly facing the customers," Lynne said.
Councilmember Roger Neal said his district has utilized the program more than others and expressed reservations about immediately adopting the proposed changes.
"I'd like to get some feedback from my constituents in District 5 as to whether they think this is appropriate or not, since they've used the program more than most," Neal said.
Several councilmembers acknowledged the program may not be as necessary as when it launched.
"You have spoken to realtors that are prominent in the area that the program has done what it was intended to do, and it's not necessarily needed anymore but I don’t think we need it to go away," said Bennett-Burton,
In the same meeting, the council addressed a proposal to increase vacant building registration fees. Currently, Farmers Branch has 14 registered vacant buildings, defined as properties where activity has ceased for more than 150 days.
The current $200 annual registration fee could increase to $500, $750 or $1,000, or revert to a tiered structure starting at $200 for the first year and increasing to $1,000 by the fourth year. Research presented from other Texas cities showed registration fees ranging from $73 in Dallas to $800 for commercial properties in San Antonio.
Council members strongly supported increasing fees to incentivize property owners to act. Councilman Omar Roman suggested quarterly inspections at $500 per inspection to further discourage prolonged vacancies.
"We really need to incentivize them to do something, sell it, remodel it or do something," Neal said. "I'd be in favor of upwards of $1,000 myself."
City staff will incorporate council feedback and return with revised proposals for both programs at a future meeting.
The council also briefly discussed potentially increasing short-term rental fees above the current $120 annual license fee, with staff planning to provide comparative data from other municipalities to inform a future decision.
