FARMERS BRANCH – Crime rates are down, unemployment is low, business buzzes because of prime footage near major arteries and interstates. But marketing of the city's pluses could go bust because of those trying to rid Farmers Branch of illegal immigrants, according to a study paid for by a group fighting an anti-illegal immigrant ordinance in the city.

"Biased" comes the slam by the ordinance's promoters.

The study, done by Bud Weinstein and Terry Clower of the University of North Texas for $12,000, was commissioned by the Let the Voters Decide group, which is trying to defeat the ordinance.

It was the latest salvo in the campaign over Ordinance 2903, which would prohibit landlords from renting to illegal immigrants and fine them $500 a day until they comply. It goes before voters on Saturday.

Farmers Branch City Council member Tim O'Hare, the ordinance's originator, was quick to dismiss the 19-page report.

"If [the] general premise is that illegal aliens don't have a negative economic impact, then the people who actually live in Farmers Branch will be laughing at it," Mr. O'Hare said.

City Council candidate David Koch took issue with several points – chief among them was the carefully edited use of an economic study on illegal immigration by the state comptroller last December.

The Farmers Branch study noted that "labor and spending of undocumented immigrants is having a huge positive effect on the state's economy, adding nearly $18 billion annually to gross state product."

The comptroller's report, the study noted, also said that "undocumented immigrants paid $425 million more in state taxes in fiscal 2005 than the cost of providing them education, healthcare and incarceration services."

But Mr. Koch said that the original comptroller's report also pointed out that local governments take a financial hit from illegal immigration. Counties take in $513 million in local taxes and revenues – but spend $1.44 billion in indigent care and law enforcement costs, according to the comptroller's report. Cities and school districts suffer as well, the report said.

"The only thing they really look at is the financial benefit that the state incurs," Mr. Koch said. "They completely ignore all the costs shoved down the throats, at the local level, of school districts, hospitals, counties and cities."

Dr. Weinstein defended the study, saying: "Anytime a consultant takes a position, the other side says that the consultant is biased."

But, he added: "We have been working on this issue for the last 30 years. We don't have a dog in the fight."

As for his summary of the comptroller report, Dr. Weinstein called the hit to local governments a "minor point." The broader issue, he said, is that "overall the economic contribution far exceeds any costs that they may have on local governments."

The study highlights the sweep of demographic change in Farmers Branch and throughout Texas.

Farmers Branch was nearly 100 percent white in 1970 and is about 40 percent minority now, the study said.

Texas is expected to be more than 50 percent Hispanic by 2035, the study said. Businesses may decide to relocate to other cities "without the community discord," the report said.

"It is, in our view, imperative that voters reject Ordinance 2903 on May 12," the two economists wrote. "Otherwise, Farmers Branch will be impaired in its ability to attract, develop and retain business, which, in turn, will reduce the tax base and erode the city's quality-of-life."

Travis Carter, a spokesman for the Let the Voters Decide group, defended the Farmers Branch study against criticism that it had "bought" the results.

"The reasons they are critical of this report is because it exposes the half-truths and lies that have been offered up to the community," Mr. Carter said. "The reason we felt compelled to commission this type of report is because the city hasn't done the same. It was much easier for the City Council to say we have an immigration crisis in Farmers Branch and the sky is falling."

The report further cited rising SAT scores as proof that the impact on schools is overstated. Students at each of the four high schools outperformed their state and national peers in reading, math and writing, the report stated. And R.L. Turner, which is nearly 70 percent Hispanic, reported the highest reading and math scores in the district.

But others say SAT scores only reflect the performance of college-bound students.

Scores on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills provide a more complete picture, district officials say.

Angela Shelley, spokeswoman for the school district, said "very preliminary" information on TAKS scores came in this week, though official ratings for school districts probably won't come out until August.

While the district's 2006 rating is "recognized," Ms. Shelley said, it could drop to academically acceptable because of science test scores. She said the district's statisticians are still reviewing scores.

"That area could possibly make us go to 'acceptable,' but we're not sure yet," she said. "But we're making gains in every other area."

On Tuesday, Farmers Branch Mayor Bob Phelps dealt another blow to proponents of the ordinance by going on the record against it in a letter to the community. The mayor didn't vote when the City Council placed the ordinance on the ballot, as he votes only in the event of a tie.

He was joined by Dave Blair and former City Manager Richard Escalante in a letter opposing the ordinance.

They noted that the city had prepared no analysis or study of the financial impact of illegal immigrants on the city, nor on any benefit the apartment ordinance might bring.

"You, the public, deserve better from your City Council," read the letter.

Staff writer Katherine Leal Unmuth contributed to this report.