02/18/08
Keeping Debt in Perspective -
Categories: The amount of taxes paid by Garland residents and businesses to operate the city is lower than the average of comparable cities around us.
That may sound like a contradiction of the information I presented in the previous post that clearly showed Garland taxes to be among the highest in the Metroplex. It is not a contradiction because the statement above is related to the taxes paid that flow into the General Fund to operate the city.
The difference is the additional taxes paid to cover Garland's debt. As of today, Garland is carrying 72% more debt than the local area cities listed below. If the Council raises the tax rate another 1.5¢ to cover the Capital Improvement Program, we would probably be higher by 81%.
Comparing this chart to one posted in June, only one city raised it's overall tax rate in the interim: Mesquite. While others did increase the portion going to operations, the overall rate stayed the same or decreased because the average going to pay debt declined by 9%, from 18.93 to 17.37.
|
Suburban
|
Jan, 2007
|
O&M Tax
|
Debt Srvs
|
Total Tax
|
|
Cities
|
Population
|
Rate
|
Tax Rate
|
Rate
|
| Richardson |
97,700
|
36.28
|
21.24
|
57.52
|
| Plano |
255,700
|
32.10
|
15.25
|
47.35
|
| Irving |
205,600
|
40.72
|
13.34
|
54.06
|
| Carrollton |
120,150
|
43.91
|
17.87
|
61.78
|
| Grand Prairie |
161,550
|
48.49
|
18.51
|
67.00
|
| Mesquite |
136,750
|
48.72
|
15.28
|
64.00
|
| Arlington |
364,300
|
44.67
|
20.13
|
64.80
|
|
Average
|
|
42.13
|
17.37
|
59.50
|
| Garland |
224,750
|
38.90
|
29.96
|
68.86
|
|
Difference from Average
|
|
–3.23
|
12.59
|
9.36
|
|
|
(–7.7%)
|
(72.0%)
|
(15.7%)
|
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