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Northlake council weighs stormwater fee, homestead exemption and capital‑project timing
Summary
Council spent the bulk of its July 10 meeting on capital projects and the preliminary budget: staff proposed a $5/month household stormwater fee to replace general‑fund transfers, modeled impacts of raising the over‑65 homestead exemption (options to $125K, $150K, $200K), and reviewed CIP projects and funding sources including debt and developer contributions.
At its July 10 meeting the Northlake Town Council and staff spent extensive time on the town’s capital improvement program and related budget decisions.
Staff outlined several follow‑ups from a prior budget briefing: the town currently absorbs online utility payment processing fees (estimated at about $290,000 annually), and staff said a vendor under discussion could save up to $70,000 per year if implemented this November. Council discussed implementation disruption and staffing impacts if the town were to stop absorbing those fees.
On the over‑65 homestead exemption, staff reported the current exemption is $100,000 and affects roughly 450 homeowners, reducing property‑tax collections by about $135,000 annually. Staff modeled three options: increasing the exemption to $125,000 (+~$34,000 net impact), $150,000 (+~$66,000 net impact), and $200,000 (roughly doubling the current impact). Several councilmembers said they favored the intermediate $150,000 option as a balance between tax relief for seniors and broader distribution of costs.
Staff also proposed a dedicated stormwater drainage fee to cover stormwater projects and obligations currently funded from the general fund. Staff modeled a $5 monthly flat fee per household and commercial charges based on impervious surface; projected revenue estimates ranged from about $300,000 (earlier model) to $350K–$400K with current and expected growth. Council discussed fairness (methods to calculate commercial charges, impervious area analysis) and administrative complexity; staff said parcel‑level impervious measurement is possible but costly.
The presentation included a detailed CIP project list (waterline and storage tank projects connected to Fort Worth wholesale supply, Faught Road reconstruction with Denton County cost‑sharing, the Star Center and supporting infrastructure, trail connectors, ADA self‑evaluation estimated at ~$150,000, and a canyon retaining‑wall repair). Staff said about $94.3M in project funding has been identified overall, with about $37M spent and ~$57M remaining; debt issuances and certificates of obligation are the primary financing tools for many projects.
Council directed staff to return with comparative information (e.g., how other taxing entities handle over‑65 exemptions) and agreed to consider moving the Harvest–Northlake trail connector and ADA compliance study forward in the current fiscal year to avoid inflationary cost increases.
The council did not adopt any final tax‑rate changes at the meeting; staff flagged the FY2024–25 budget and debt‑issuance timing as shaping decisions in the coming weeks.
