How Fate Increased Sales Tax Revenue With Economic Improvements

by Jessie O'Brien on May 16, 2023

fate economic improvements increased sales tax

Fate, Texas, is mostly a residential community without many business and entertainment options. Fate’s economy ratings on a Polco survey showed a need for improvements.
Dedicated to acting on resident feedback, the City implemented new branding, improved its downtown core, and turned blighted land into a truck stop food court, along with other developments.
Economic approval ratings increased 10% to 20% in many areas. The City’s sales tax revenue increased with the new offerings.

Problem

Fate Residents Wanted More Businesses in the City

Fate, Texas, is a small City 30 minutes east of downtown Dallas. While close to a major city, government officials can see cows down the street from City Hall. There’s been a huge population boom, from 600 people in 2000 to over 25,000 residents in 2023. Many new Fate residents are from Dallas; they wanted to escape city congestion but still want access to Dallas amenities. However, Fate’s own business and entertainment options were lacking.

The National Community Survey (The NCS), an assessment that measures residents' opinions about their city, showed a need for overall economic improvements. Luckily, Fate is dedicated to acting on resident feedback.

“We're not afraid to look at the survey results, have the hard conversations, and then try to improve,” said Fate Assistant City Manager Spencer Foster.

fate economic improvements Downtown Park Master Plan Fate Downtown master plan

Solution

Fate Established a New Cultural Identity and Focused Improvements Downtown

Over the past few years, Fate has made big efforts to improve its downtown core. They updated old facades and added new walking paths to connect cut-off areas. They also commissioned new murals with City slogans, like “Fate brought us here.”

Fate established a new culture and identity. They adopted the “strong towns” philosophy, a resilience initiative, and are pushing that message out to a community. They’ve also recently updated their logo. The branding is everywhere, including overpass signage, a billboard, and wayfinding signs.

“That’s really helped our sense of place for Fate because the downtown improvements are really noticeable,” Foster said.

fate economic imprvements Food Haul2 Fate residents enjoy the downtown food truck park

The new identity helped attract new business. The City turned undeveloped, blighted land into Fate Food Hall, an outdoor food truck court. They recently built a new mixed-use area and are currently in the process of adding a new building with a co-working space. There is a strong work-from-home community there, so the goal is to retain those remote workers. And now more people are spending money in Fate.

“Not only does Fate look safer, it feels safer downtown as well,” said Fate Public Engagement Coordinator Shelbi Stofer. “That’s been able to help us pull some of the traffic off the highway and bring [more people] into the community.”

fate economic improvements

Fate's economic resident approval ratings on The NCS

Results

Fate’s Economic Approval Ratings All Increased

As a result of all the changes, resident approval ratings on Fate's economy improved 10% to 20% on The NCS. The City’s sales tax revenue also increased with more community members and passers-by spending money in Fate.

fate economic development
Fate residents enjoy the downtown food truck park

The changes show how thoughtful development and good messaging can change resident perspectives. The approval rating increases represent the City’s continued dedication to acting on resident feedback.

“The City is very thoughtful [in incorporating] The NCS results into how they set their goals and plans for the year,” Stofer said. “We really, really value our community's input on these surveys.”

Learn What Community Priorities Are Most Important to Your Residents

You can move mountains when government and resident priorities align. Polco can help you engage with the community to discover what’s most important to them, so you know where to focus your budgets and plans and solve problems together. Connect with one of our engagement experts to learn more.