Flower Mound will no longer pursue a tax increment reinvestment zone, or TIRZ, for Lakeside Village, according to discussion at the Town Council’s June 21 strategic planning session.

The TIRZ was initially proposed at a January 2018 Town Council meeting to help developer Realty Capital pay for infrastructure and public amenities at the $1.5 billion mixed-use project on 35 acres along Lake Grapevine.

A TIRZ is a form of financing that captures growth in property tax value of a certain area and uses that captured value to fund improvements within that area. It does not create any new taxes.

“The point of the TIRZ would be to expedite the development, allowing the developer to put all the infrastructure in upfront,” said Andrea Roy, Flower Mound economic development director, in the video of the meeting. “The intent is that value comes earlier [rather] than later.”

In January of this year, the council reviewed a feasibility study about the effects of a TIRZ. In March, it voted to award a consulting contract with Hawes Hill & Associates to create the reinvestment zone.

Roy said all the documents had been completed, and the zone’s creation was on hold for the council to decide.

“[The TIRZ] is one of those dangling things out there,” Mayor Steve Dixon said. “We as a council need to give staff direction on what they are going to do.”

Town Council Member Claudio Forest said at the meeting that he favored the TIRZ while member Jim Engel said he was torn. But council members Jim Pierson, Sandeep Sharma and Ben Bumgarner expressed concerns about using public money in a private development.

“Let’s cut the cord,” Bumgarner said. “Let’s see what the market is going to do with it.”

No vote was taken, and no formal vote is required moving forward.