(The Center Square) – The Dallas City Council is giving $18 million in taxpayer-funded economic incentives to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Dallas-based Hunt Reality Investments to build a new office building north of downtown Dallas.
Once completed, the $60 billion New York investment banking firm said it would eventually hire 5,000 employees to be housed in the new office building.
Council member Tennel Atkins said they “weren’t giving away the store,” insisting they were trying to “sell Dallas,” the Dallas Morning News reported.
But Goldman Sachs is already invested in Dallas, with offices located there, and one of Dallas’ new directors responsible for sustainable development and construction is a former Goldman Sachs executive.
The City Council approved giving Goldman Sachs $18 million in incentives just 10 months after the city hired a former Goldman Sachs employee.
Dallas City Manager T.C. Broadnax announced that William G. Mundinger, II, the National Director of Development, Environmental, and Construction Services at Goldman Sachs, had been appointed as Dallas’ new executive in residence for the Department of Sustainable Development and Construction (SDC). Mundinger began his job last August, tasked with “realigning SDC and the City’s building and permitting process,” a goal that was “critical to the success of the City of Dallas’ newly adopted Economic Development Policy,” Broadnax said.
While at Goldman Sachs, Mundinger provided development and oversight services in Dallas, and on both the East and West Coasts and internationally, according to the city’s announcement. His job falls under Dr. Eric A. Johnson, chief of Economic Development and Neighborhood Services.
Council member Paul Ridley, initially said, “I do not see the need for public support for a wealthy public corporation that is highly capitalized and does not need this money to decide where they are going to locate their offices,” but still voted for the proposal, the Dallas Morning News reported.
Goldman Sachs’ new 800,000-square-foot office would be constructed around a 1.5-acre park on Hunt Realty’s 11-acre North End development between Victory Park and Uptown. The existing development includes a 540-unit luxury multifamily complex located in the Uptown District, adjacent to Victory Park, the American Airlines Center and the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, Hunt Realty states on its website.
The City Council voted to give $18 million in incentives to the multibillion investment banking firm months after homeowners struggling with sky-high gas prices and record inflation were sent higher property tax bills.
Dallas County has one of the highest median property taxes in the U.S. It ranks 194 out of 3,143 counties nationwide in median property taxes, according to Tax-Rates.org. The average yearly property tax paid by Dallas County residents is 4.3% of their yearly income.
Dallas County property taxes, on average, are 2.18% of a property’s assessed fair market value but with market values escalating as demand increases with more people moving to Texas, home prices, and taxes are skyrocketing.
And some residents say because of taxes they can’t afford to keep their homes. One senior citizen who got his appraisal notice from Dallas County was shocked to learn his home’s value increased by $30,000, and his property taxes along with it.
He told Fox4 KDFW News, “it’s getting to be where I’m not going to be able to stay just due to tax increases.”
Texas is home to some of the highest property tax rates in the U.S., in some counties they are higher than those in California. In neighboring Collin County, the average homestead market value increased by $113,000 in one year; in Denton County, by $75,000, WFAA Ch. 8 News, an ABC affiliate, reported.
Source: thecentersquare.com