McKinney development corporation marks 30 years, $330 million invested in city growth

A half-cent sales tax approved by McKinney voters in 1996 has become one of the city’s most enduring growth tools, funneling money into parks, recreation, affordable housing and the public spaces that shape daily life across town.

The McKinney Community Development Corporation says that tax now generates about $9.5 million a year. Over 30 years, the corporation says it has awarded more than $230 million in grants, while broader city reporting puts total investment at more than $330 million in projects that range from community amenities to affordable housing initiatives. That spending has left a visible imprint on the city’s neighborhoods, downtown district and public gathering places, even when residents may not connect those improvements to sales-tax revenue.

The corporation was created after voters approved a Type B, half-cent sales-tax entity to support community and economic development projects. Today, the McKinney Community Development Corporation operates under a seven-member board appointed by the McKinney City Council, with meetings generally held on the fourth Thursday of each month at McKinney City Hall. Angela Richardson-Woods, who has served as board chair since 2022, said in the corporation’s 2024 annual report that McKinney residents can experience the tangible results in daily life because its projects span the city.

That daily footprint is most obvious in the places residents use without thinking about the funding source behind them: parks, recreation sites, community amenities and the events that keep McKinney downtown active. In 2024, the corporation awarded $227,000 in promotional grants that helped support nearly 120 events, including Arts in Bloom, Oktoberfest and Home for the Holidays. Those dollars help drive foot traffic to downtown businesses, keep the city’s event calendar full and reinforce the city center as a gathering place rather than just an office or retail corridor.

The anniversary also underscores how McKinney’s growth strategy has evolved. City materials describe the corporation as supporting projects that enhance quality of life, tourism and business development, and the city’s FY25 and FY26 strategic goals explicitly call for maximizing partnerships with the corporation. In practice, that means the same sales tax that once looked like a narrow funding tool has become part of McKinney’s larger planning framework, shaping where the city invests in housing, retail and civic life as it keeps growing in Collin County.