2003-03-24 Regular Meeting of La Porte City Council

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ECONOMIC CONDITION AND OUTLOOK The City is located in the southeast quadrant of Harris County and is bounded on the north by the Houston ship channel, on the east by Galveston Bay, and the south by the Bayport channel. The City is flanked on the north ' and south sides by the nation's largest concentration of petrochemical plants. It is located approximately 25 miles from downtown Houston. ' State Highway 225 provides access to the City on its north side and connects on the west with Interstate 610. State Highway 146, which extends into northeast Texas, allows access from the south through the City. An eight -lane suspension bridge spans the Houston Ship Channel and provides access to the La Porte Bayshore ' Area. In 1958 the City created an Industrial District adjacent to the City, which presently encompasses approximately 5,500 acres of land between the City and the Houston ship channel. In 1970, another district was created which presently encompasses approximately 2,500 acres. The City's Industrial Districts are protected from annexation by other municipalities in that they are ' encompassed by annexed land, which completely encircles the districts. The City enters into formal contracts with the industries in the districts, whereby a certain portion of each plant's value is annexed by the City. The remaining plant's value constitutes the protected Industrial District area on which the industries make payments ' to the City each year in lieu of taxes. These annual in lieu payments are an amount which, when added to the full City taxes on the annexed portion, equal 53% of what the City's taxes on the industry would be if 100% of the industry were annexed by the City. The contracts also contain a new construction incentive clause that ' allows new construction in the industrial district area to be assessed in lieu of taxes at a 30% rate, instead of the 53% rate. Since January 1, 2000, these plants have added physical improvements in excess of 491 million dollars. These in lieu of tax payments are reported as industrial payments in the financial section of this report. ' Under the City Charter and State Statutes, the City has the authority to annex additional areas. Harris County is a 1,788 square mile county leading in oil, gas and petrochemical areas, having over $230 ' million average annual production of petroleum, natural gas and natural liquid gas. It has more than 3,000 manufacturing plants, the nation's largest concentration of petrochemical plants, the second largest United States seaport; and is a corporation management center. The Texas Medical Center is one of the nation's ' largest, providing medical care and educational opportunities. The c ounty's 5 7 acute care hospitals have 14,914 beds of which 7,000 are in the Texas Medical Center. Higher education facilities includes: University of Houston, Rice University, Texas Southern University, St. Thomas University and Houston Baptist College, all offer full four year as well as postgraduate programs. The LBJ Manned Spacecraft Center is also located here. ' Located some 20 miles southeast of Houston on Galveston Bay in Harris County are the three communities that make up the La Porte Bayshore Area: La Porte, Morgan's Point and Shoreacres. The area has a combined population of approximately 40,000. Though much of the image of this area is industrial, the La ' Porte-Bayshore area is still characterized by an expanse of resort homes. Because of this, and the metropolitan advantages of Houston, La Porte is one of the few communities in the Gulf Coast area that offers this favorable combination.