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City outlines plan to swap tax-rate cents from debt service to operations; officials say voter approval will be required
Summary
Assistant City Manager Matt Watson said the city is preparing a November ballot measure to move about 3¢ from debt service to operations and maintenance (M&O) to fund day-to-day services; he warned the change may appear as a tax-rate increase under state law (SB2) even though the city aims to rebalance the rate.
City staff presented a proposal to rebalance the property-tax rate by shifting roughly 3¢ from the debt-service portion to the operations and maintenance (M&O) portion to fund ongoing service needs for police, fire and new facilities. Assistant City Manager Matt Watson said the city must ask voters in November to approve the shift and cautioned that under state rules (Senate Bill 2) the measure may appear on the ballot as a tax-rate increase because it exceeds the 3.5% growth threshold for M&O.
Watson framed the proposal as a way to maintain service levels while trying to reduce the city's overall debt burden over time. He presented per-capita revenue comparisons showing Garland brings in about $488 per person versus Richardson at about $1,068, and said if Garland matched regional peers it would have about $90 million more on its general fund — a comparison offered to contextualize revenue limitations.
