Posted by on 02.05.20

San Antonio city staff announced they are set to lean on private companies and academic institutions to develop a new R&D program. On January 28th 2020, city staff introduced the idea during the City Council’s monthly Innovation and Technology Committee meeting, naming it the R&D League. The city has joined forces with the Southwest Research Institute, USAA, and the University of Texas at San Antonio. By taking a public private partnership approach, San Antonio recognizes it can learn and improve by bringing in outside expertise. The R&D League will work together to provide scientific tools to San Antonio and investigate new ideas to help city staff make data-driven decisions. The initiative has projects in the works for 2020 that were developed within the last six months. Each project team will test a hypothesis, report the results and recommend the next steps.  The R&D League will advise and provide tools to the city to consider new ideas and make well informed, unbiased decisions on R&D projects that are community focused and benefit local residents. The development of this R&D League will create opportunities for experienced cross-sector teams of academics, engineers and scientists, as wells as city staff, to explore new ways to address the interests of their community.

Innovative Projects

• Sensors on City Vehicles: The first project, a collaboration with SwRI(Southwest Research Institute) will be to attach sensors to solid waste vehicles. These vehicles are covering over 95% of the city and drive over 25,000 miles a day making this a very useful way to address where street repairs are needed.
• ActiveVision: SwRI, in collaboration with the Transportation and Capital Improvements Department of San Antonio will use cameras throughout the city to provide automatic, real-time alerts to city staff when traffic anomalies are detected.
• City Hall To Go: A project led by the city's Office of Innovation identify when and where department outreach and intake efforts overlap, and align those efforts in a mobile format, especially for low-income and harder-to-reach populations.
• Neighborhood Empowerment Zones Impacts Estimator: UTSA professors collaborate with the city's Neighborhood and Housing Services Department to develop a data-informed approach to draw boundaries for neighborhood empowerment zones, a designation created by the state to increase and preserve affordable housing.
• The Idea Portal: An in-house portal that will allow employees of San Antonio to send in their own innovative ideas. Configuring a digital process for the city to collect, explore and evaluate ideas or improvements from employees and residents.

R&D activities take place in every industry across the U.S., including City and County offices. The city of San Antonio is using The R&D League to pave the way for a transformation in how they interact in city services, immediately creating a more productive and efficient place to live, work and play.

Opportunity 

R&D tax credits represent a significant financial advantage to businesses, allowing both reduced tax liability and cash back for reinvestment or other needs. Companies of all sizes qualify for the federal R&D tax credit and can benefit significantly. Additionally, 70% of states now offer specific state research and development tax credits. While more than 14,000 U.S. companies claim federal R&D credits annually, less than 33% of companies that qualify for the credits actually apply for them.

Expertise

Tax Point Advisors, a team of engineers, CPAs and tax attorneys, focuses on helping CPAs and their clients successfully apply for federal and state tax credits, as well as other specialty tax services. With a growing number of offices across the country, we offer CPAs and their clients national expertise with a local touch. Our professionals conduct a thorough on-site R&D review process for every tax credit study. Tax Point Advisors' audit rate is under 5% and our industry-leading audit success is unmatched. 

Click here to find out if your business activities qualify for R&D tax credits.

To learn more about the benefits of R&D tax credit services from Tax Point Advisors, simply fill out the form on this page and a member of our team will be in touch with you. Or, you may call us at 800.260-4138.