Council approves project‑financing zone to capture hotel‑tax growth for Civic Center expansion

The Lubbock City Council unanimously approved an ordinance Aug. 25 creating Project Financing Zone No. 1, centered on the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center, to capture incremental hotel-occupancy-tax revenue within a three‑mile radius for up to 30 years.

Danielle Williams, the city’s business development director (S28), described the PFZ as a revenue-capture tool that does not create a new tax but redirects the growth in state-collected hotel-occupancy tax above a 2026 base year back to Lubbock for civic‑center modernization, adjunct public improvements and project financing. She told council the mechanism is intended to bolster downtown investment and support private development that complements the civic center.

Under the ordinance, 2026 will serve as the base year; any growth in eligible hotel revenues after 2026 will be available to the city as an increment, with filings to the Texas Comptroller required to formalize the zone. Councilmembers asked follow-up questions about the pinpoint location and timing; staff said they would have up to five years to initiate a capital project to draw down accumulated increment funds. The measure passed unanimously.