At a short meeting tonight, Budget and Research Director Bryan Bradford presented the Council its first look at the property tax figures received Friday from the appraisal district. Garland grew 2.1% over last year, with most of that from new construction. While positive growth, it is the most anemic of the last decade.

 
New construction accounted for 75% of our growth and the remainder was primarily from increased commercial appraisals. There was a slight increase in business personal property. New construction added $174 million to the overall tax base for 2008, a healthy increase, higher than three of the last five years.
 

The residential base has declined to less than 60% of the total base for the first time, to 58%. However, even with $64 million in new construction, the value of residential properties fell almost $8 million. The total decline of existing residential properties was about $72 million. Slightly inflating the decline is the 1% increase in the homestead exemption passed earlier this year. Without the increased HSE, the change in the residential base (existing and new combined) would have been zero.
 
The staff has proposed a tax rate increase of 1.1¢ per $100 evaluation. That represents no increase again in the Operations & Maintenance Budget, but 1.1¢ in the Debt Service tax rate, which is less than projected when the Capital Improvements Program was passed earlier. Garland would remain one of the best fiscally managed cities in the area but our debt rate is among the highest.
 

The increase will effect some taxpayers differently than others. The average resident with a homestead exemption would see a $3.23 per $100,000 annual increase. Senior residents who have higher exemptions would actually see a savings of $2.37 annually per $100,000.
 
There are always contingencies. With much less tax income this year, cuts will be necessary to keep the tax rate down and many of those will require Council policy changes. Will there be enough fortitude on the Council to make cuts that might be political hot potatoes?
 
Also, when the CIP was passed, it was said that did not necessarily mean a tax rate increase. As reported, some of us couldn't see it and two of us didn't vote for the CIP because of the presumed tax increase.
 
The budget is currently scheduled for a Council vote on Sept 2. It must be approved by Sept 19 or the City Manager's Budget is automatically adopted. There will be numerable work sessions, department presentations, and two public hearings. Citizens can also give their advice at the city's website or by returning the form in the City Press that should arrive in mailboxes in a few days.
 
It will be a long and busy time between now and final adoption. Stay tuned.