Denison Council extends Preston Harbor tax zone to 2073

The Denison City Council voted July 13 to extend Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone No. 2, the tax district covering the Preston Harbor development near Lake Texoma, through December 31, 2073. The city's official recording of the meeting shows the motion to adopt the extension ordinance carried unanimously. The vote adds 10 years to the zone and comes with an amended and restated project and financing plan that estimates about $1.138 billion deposited into the zone's fund over its remaining life.

The change adds 10 years to a zone the city says it created in 2013 with a 30-year term, according to Denison's published description of TIRZ No. 2. In a tax increment arrangement, the rise in property values inside a defined zone produces tax revenue that is set aside to help pay for development there.

The extension moved through the process the week before the council vote. A July 6 packet from the Reinvestment Zone No. 2 board laid out the 10-year extension to the end of 2073 and an amended and restated project and financing plan, and it listed City Council consideration for July 13.

Denison records tie Preston Harbor back more than a decade, linking it to a 2013 development agreement, the later creation of the TIRZ, annexation into the city, and Lakeside Development District zoning. A 2023 replacement development agreement put the property at about 3,114 acres near Lake Texoma, with planned uses that include single-family and multifamily housing, commercial space, a marina, and a resort hotel.

The amended plan attaches large figures to the zone's future. It estimates roughly $4.499 billion in privately funded costs outside the TIRZ project scope and about $1.138 billion deposited into the zone fund over the term, while participating taxing entities keep an estimated $2.419 billion in revenue.

On financing, the plan states that Denison does not contemplate issuing TIRZ bonds or taking on city public debt secured by the tax increments. It points instead to assessments through a Preston Harbor public improvement district as the anticipated debt source, with TIRZ credits offsetting part of what individual parcels owe. The plan also says that if the zone reaches its stated expiration with obligations unpaid, the city is not required to cover the shortfall and the term does not extend on its own.

Denison's structure differs from a newer zone in Gainesville. The city created Reinvestment Zone No. 3 in 2024 across about 1,874.44 acres, with an ordinance that sets a December 31, 2064 termination date and directs 75 percent of the city's increment into that zone.