Slaton Mayor Cliff Shaw is disappointed with the Lubbock County Commissioners Court.
Commissioners voted ‘no’ to funding a downtown economic development study. But that’s not what got under Shaw’s skin.
“It was a little disappointing that they didn’t think that the project in Slaton would benefit Lubbock County. That was a big disappointment to me,” Shaw said to LubbockLights.com.
“The type of questions that they were asking about – ‘What benefit to Lubbock County [is] doing anything for Slaton?’ … In my way of thinking, anything that affects any of the towns in Lubbock County is a benefit,” Shaw added.
County Judge Curtis Parrish responded, “Slaton is a very important part of Lubbock County. And Lubbock County has been very supportive of Slaton.”
Parrish told LubbockLights.com, for example, the county funded Slaton’s Juneteenth parade last year.
“It’s not like we completely ignore Slaton. We’ve got the clubhouse there. … We maintain the largest park in Slaton; Lubbock County does,” Parrish said.
Parrish said he asked about the benefit to Lubbock County.
“There was no direct benefit to Lubbock County on this particular economic development plan,” Parrish said.
At least, if there was a benefit, Slaton did not make it obvious to the judge during an April 14 commissioners court meeting. The funding request failed on a tie vote 2-2. Cary Shaw, the mayor’s brother, abstained from the vote.
“I had more questions than I had answers. … I am willing to look at it again once they get all these questions answered.” Parrish said.
What is the study?
Shaw described the study Slaton wants to do.
“It’s an overlay of the zoning we have downtown to start seeing if we can’t take some of these old buildings that people are using for storage and to live in and start requiring business fronts and revitalize the downtown,” Shaw said.
An overlay district is a special set of regulations on top of normal zoning rules.
“We need this study to actually figure out what we need to do with this overlay and with a ‘vacant property’ ordinance and stuff that we’re working on,” Shaw said.
It’s a five-year study, but Slaton would pay over the course of three years; $45,000 followed by two $25,000 payments.
At least in the first year, Slaton (or its economic development corporation) will pay its own way. As for the next two payments, Shaw said Slaton might come back with an updated request to the county.
The goal is more foot traffic downtown, Shaw said. That means more restaurants, jewelry shops and boutiques. It also means farmers markets, music and art events, holiday events and such.
“Something to bring people in on the weekends to visit the downtown area and then go home Sunday afternoon,” the mayor said.
Lacy Beasley, president of Retail Strategies, LLC, made the presentation along with Wade Wilson, city manager of Slaton and Lezlee Harlan, executive director of the Slaton Economic Development Corporation (SEDCO).
Beasley said, “We want our historic buildings that are restored to their former glory. We want storefronts that are filled with thriving businesses. Look at the Slaton Bakery that’s so popular. You want all of downtown to look like that.”
Tahoka and Snyder are examples of her company’s recent clients, Beasley said.
“It’s far better to have a series of very small events. So, you get people familiar coming downtown repeatedly, and then that helps support the businesses,” Beasley said.
Justifying the study
Harlan told commissioners Slaton got advice from Wolfforth to get an economic development plan.
“It has made a huge impact on their community. They are actually bringing more into Lubbock County and their city so that they can have things in place to benefit all – instead of being totally swallowed up by Lubbock,” Harlan said.
“We’re needing help getting a strategic plan in place that will benefit our economy, which benefits Lubbock’s economy,” Harlan said during the commissioners court meeting.
Wilson explained the timing.
“One of the things that we are preparing for long-term is the Loop [88] that is going to be built. It’s going to land right outside of Slaton. We’re expecting to experience significant growth whenever that happens. And Slaton, many of you may know, we’re the only community in Lubbock County that has a downtown square,” Wilson said.
“We’re expecting to grow our population significantly once the Loop is built,” Wilson added.
Parrish asked, “Why do you want the county’s money to be first?”
In other words, why not have Slaton pay for the first year and ask Lubbock to help with the remaining payments in years two and three?
SECO does have money, Harlan said, but the plan is to set it aside for other projects. Parrish said it’s harder to release money in the middle of a budget year. Waiting for the upcoming budget might be easier.
Parrish also asked in the meeting what will happen if the county puts up money this year and Slaton does not continue the study in the second and third year. Could the county get the money back?
Parrish then told LubbockLights.com he was not sure if Slaton would need tax rebates for new businesses, a tax increment financing zone, or other forms of economic development.
Shaw conceded, “I’m not sure that we did all the homework we needed before the commissioners meeting.”
Where the money comes from:
When asked about the funding source, Parrish told LubbockLights.com, “I think the idea was to pull it out of our what we call our ‘unclaimed money’ source, which we can use for some economic development programs. … It’s also the funding source that we use for our arts program.”
According to the Texas Comptroller’s website:
- Unclaimed property can be any financial asset or safe deposit box contents abandoned by the property owner for one or more years.
- Businesses and government groups doing business with Texans are holders. Holders are statutorily required to file an annual report to the Texas Comptroller’s office for unclaimed property.
“The state looks for the owner or somebody to come claim the money. If they can’t find it after period of time, it returns back to the county and then then we have to spend the money on certain things,” Parrish said.
Lubbock got money; why not Slaton?
Commissioner Mike Dalby, precinct 1, said, “My only problem – only hang up here – is that there is not a Lubbock County project that is in Slaton. … We recently donated to a feasibility study in downtown Lubbock that included a county project.”
Dalby referenced the proposed Lubbock County Expo Center. The county and city agreed to study the idea of moving the expo center project to the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center site, which LubbockLights.com covered here.
“Slaton is a neat town. So, there’s a ton of potential there for sure,” Dalby said.
When asked if the commissioners made an unfair distinction between Lubbock and Slaton, Shaw said, “I don’t know that.”
But he was absolutely certain the entire county benefits from Slaton’s economic development.
“It does directly benefit Lubbock County. Whatever we can achieve and whatever we can improve, that directly affects Lubbock County,” Shaw said.
Commissioners Jason Corley and Jordan Rackler were the two ‘yes’ votes.
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