(Seguin) — If you’re still not convinced about the city’s high rate of growth, Seguin City Manager Steve Parker says that the data on the subject is now clear. Parker says the economy is growing, the city’s population is growing, and the opportunities that exist in Seguin are also showing positive growth.
Parker, who’s been on the job now for a little over two years now, says that he believes retail growth is really about to takeoff in Seguin. He says people in Seguin have been waiting to hear this news for a very long time.
“We’ve heard from the city council; we’ve heard from the community that retail is one of the things that has been lacking here and Josh and his team have done a great job of trying to make sure that we are really going out and telling that story. Right after I started, we did a retail leakage study that really showed that of the 30,000 people who live in Seguin, there are actually 120,000 people that shop at HEB. But after they go to HEB because they are coming from La Vernia, Gonzales, Stockdale, Marion everywhere else– they are leaking out and they are going somewhere else and they are buying dinner in New Braunfels. They are going to Academy in San Marcos and so we want to keep those sales tax dollars here and I think his efforts are really paying off. I think we are going to have some great announcements here – probably the first quarter of this year,” said Parker.
Parker says, you might not have noticed, but the retail and commercial growth is already underway. He says more people are spending money here, and that’s a good thing for the city as it works to attract even more stores and restaurants to Seguin.
“We are up 35 percent in sales tax compared to last year already through the month of December. Actually, the largest month that we’ve ever had in one month was the month of December. So, we get that in February. That’s why we always say there is a two month lag between reporting but that is what we need to make ourselves sustainable, to make sure that we can minimize that tax rate increase as much as possible because we are growing no matter whether we like it or not,” said Parker.
It’s no coincidence that the economic growth is happening at the same time the city’s population is growing. Parker says large amounts of growth recorded in the 2020 Census only begins to scratch the surface of the kind of growth that appears to be headed to Seguin at this time.
“If you take 1,000 homes like what we did last year, just average three people per home. That’s 3,000 people. That’s 10 percent in one year in growth and so, we are really imaging that but we want people to have a place to live, to work, to play, to eat, to shop and I think we are going to see some great results here in the next year or so and we are going to be really proud of that,” said Parker.
Parker sang the praises of the city’s economic development team, and says that its hard work, along with support from the SEDC, is helping to really boost the local economy.