One funding mechanism necessary for the development of Hutto's Co-Op District moved ahead Monday night after city manager Odis Jones requested the Hutto Economic Development Corporation allocate a portion of its funds to invest in improvements on the Co-Op property.

The Hutto EDC board approved the request Monday night at its regularly scheduled meeting, electing to officially participate in a tax increment reinvestment zone, or TIRZ, on the Co-Op District. Williamson County and the city of Hutto are the other participating entities in the outlined TIRZ deal.

Hutto City Council and Williamson County Commissioners Court will have to authorize the TIRZ cooperation terms and funding specifics in separate upcoming votes. An item regarding the Co-Op District's Public Improvement District is scheduled on Hutto City Council's June 7 meeting agenda.

"This is a portion of the funding process," Jones said Monday night. "This is just a piece of the puzzle."

A TIRZ allows for revenue generated by a project to be reinvested on the site to fund the costs of qualified improvements and other costs, such as infrastructure, management fees or landscaping.

Per the terms of the TIRZ presented to the Hutto EDC board Monday night, 50 percent of the EDC's sales tax revenues collected from within the Co-Op District boundaries will be reinvested back into the project to "develop and construct public and other improvements."

If approved by the other two participating bodies, the Hutto EDC is set to invest $4.16 million of its collected sales tax revenues back into the Co-Op District over the next 30 years, according to estimates generated by MA Partners, the lead developers of the project.

According to the TIRZ, the city will reinvest $21.4 million over the next 40 years into Co-Op District improvements and infrastructure, and Williamson County will pay out $5.5 million over the next 20 years. All of those funds come from ad valorem taxes generated on the Co-Op District site itself.

Improvement projects in the Co-Op District eligible for TIRZ funding include signage, monuments, parking lots and parking garages, water and sewer infrastructure, drainage, engineering costs, project management, construction on Hwy. 79 and several landscaping jobs—including landscaping on the new Hutto City Hall.