If Fort Worth moves ahead with Panther Island without federal funding, it may be costly
The city of Fort Worth may have to front roughly $13 million for utility work in 2020 needed to spur economic development on Panther Island and prepare the area for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to eventually dig a channel in the Trinity River.
If the work isn’t done, Tarrant Regional Water District staff say the city will be holding up the already delayed $1.17 billion project. But city officials have been cautious as the project continues to lack federal financial support.
Originally, the city and water district agreed that utility work — both the relocation of utilities to make way for the Army Corps to dig a 1.5-mile channel and improvements required for dense development on the future Panther Island — would be done by the city, which would be quickly reimbursed through the $250 million bond the water district asked voters to support in May 2018.
That agreement has hit a snag, creating tension between the city and the water district.
In order to fund the $250 million in debt, water district officials say the lifespan of the special tax district designed to repay the bonds must be extended another 10 years, That requires a vote by the city council. The council and Mayor Betsy Price have been unwilling to extend the tax district until questions about future federal funding are resolved.
City Manager David Cooke, Trinity River Vision Authority board member, called it a “Catch-22.”
In order for new development to come to the island, it needs infrastructure — but that infrastructure can only be paid for through increased property tax revenue from the development. Meanwhile, the Army Corps can’t move forward with designing and digging the channel until certain utilities are moved.
Water district staff including project manager Woody Frossard and J.D. Granger, the son of U.S. Rep. Kay Granger and the director of the Trinity River Vision Authority (TRVA), argued the city would be holding up the Panther Island project. The federal government would be unwilling to move forward with the project unless the city did the necessary utility work, they said.
For a total $1.17 billion, the endeavor aims to mitigate river flooding by cutting a channel in the Trinity River north of downtown Fort Worth, forming an 800-acre island ripe for development.
But Cooke said the local partners may need to rethink how they move forward since federal funding is in doubt. Congress in 2016 authorized up to $526 million for Panther Island, but the Trump administration has been unwilling to provide new money. The Corps, in coordination with the water district, has asked for $30 million to $40 million each year but has received just $68 million.
“We keep pretending the world looks the same as it did two years ago,” Cooke said. “It doesn’t.”
As much as $250 million could come to the project after Price met with Mick Mulvaney, the White House budget director and acting chief of staff, along with U.S. Rep. Roger Williams in July.
The TRVA board — a group of city, county and water district officials who oversee the coordination of the project — approved a $36.6 million budget Wednesday.
As part of that, it voted to direct the water district to ask the city to cover about $13.4 million in utilities without getting paid back or extend a special tax district. The water district board will make the final approval of the budget later this month.
Jim Oliver, manager of the Tarrant Regional Water District and a TRVA board member, pointed to other large projects around Fort Worth, including Chisholm Trail Parkway and the TEXRail line to DFW Airport, saying it was not uncommon for the city to invest in a project without knowing if it would recoup the money.
“There is always risk involved in federal projects,” he said.
Riveron Review
The TRVA also moved forward with some recommendations from an independent review designed to improve the optics of the project.
Dallas-based consultant Riveron found significant public confusion about the project’s goals because the bypass channel is seen as flood control, economic development and recreation. The report suggested splitting those functions apart, with the city managing development and the water district taking on recreation.
J.D. Granger pushed back on both ideas.
He argued to the board that the TRVA is already doing much of what a city-run economic development nonprofit or committee would do, like review design standards for buildings. He also said it was better equipped to obtain sponsorships key to funding river-related events like Fort Worth’s Fourth.
Ultimately, the river authority board approved having Cooke and city staff explore how the city could take on economic development, and asked the water district to lead recreation. The board also approved requiring water district staff to provide a monthly risk management report.
One item from Riveron’s report not discussed Wednesday was whether Granger’s position should report to a board or just to Oliver, as he does now. Riveron recommended the position move under the river authority board.
Oliver has previously said he doesn’t support the change, but he would consider a structure where Granger reported to the water district board.
“We cannot go back to the status quo,” said James Hill, a member of the water district and river authority board.
This story was originally published September 4, 2019 at 8:42 PM.
