Argyle Town Council called for a Special Election to be held on November 4 to determine whether to increase the sales and use tax from 1% to 2% within the Harvest commercial area.
Currently, the total sales tax collected within Argyle’s town limits is 2%, which is the maximum allowed by the state.
It includes 1% of general sales and use tax along with an additional 1% that was adopted by Argyle voters and is split among the Municipal Development District (.25%), Crime Control and Prevention District (.25%) and Street Maintenance (.5%).
For Harvest, located in Argyle’s extraterritorial jurisdiction and also known as the Belmont Freshwater Supply District No. 2, retailers pay the 1% in general sales tax and the .25% tax to the MDD.
According to Argyle Town Manager Mike Sims, the special election will bring the sales tax rate for businesses located in the Harvest commercial area up to the same standard. The extra .75% in sales tax will go to Argyle’s general sales and use tax.
It aims to bring in more sales tax revenue for the Town from retailers, especially as the I-35W corridor along Argyle’s ETJ is beginning to blossom with new businesses. According to Town documents, “implementing this reallocation could result in a financial benefit exceeding $100,000 annually to the Town.”
The change will not affect Argyle residents, whatsoever, and will barely be noticeable, if at all, by residents in the Harvest area.
“It’s not going to change anything for Argyle proper residents, they won’t be paying any more than they do now,” said Sims. “For a resident in Harvest, it’s not going to be a noticeable thing. If they go out and buy something, the sales tax will be the same as if they went to a business in Argyle proper.”
Businesses on the west side of I-35W and north of FM 407, like the Tom Thumb under construction, Chick-Fil-A and McDonald’s, are all in the Harvest commercial area that would pay .75% more in sales tax.
“We know that as a commercial area,” said Sims. “Collecting the sales tax is helpful to the town because we might want to provide police service over there and it’s helpful to the development because you can use some of the sales taxes that are collected to help pay off the debt of the water district improvements.”
Ultimately, the Town of Argyle wants to see businesses in the Harvest area contribute the same amount of sales tax as businesses in Argyle proper.
“The question to voters is ‘should there be a change so that the Harvest commercial area is not a zone where retailers play a slightly lower tax rate as the surrounding municipality’, which is the Town of Argyle,” said Sims. “It’s a very simple question for voters: should the Harvest commercial area have a lower sales tax rate than the Town of Argyle?”
The question was posed to Argyle voters in May, but Sims hopes more explanation from the Town will help them understand the benefits of the plan.
“We didn’t feel like we had done a great job getting the message out last time around,” he said. “And it was not something that a lot of voters followed when they looked at it.”
According to Town documents, the special election will cost the Town around $9,000, compared to if it had scheduled the election for May 2026, which would have had no extra costs.
However, Town documents said “calling the election now ensures the Town remains on schedule to meet statutory deadlines and secures the opportunity for increased revenue collection within the SPA area.”
