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Residents urge council to hold to no-new-revenue rate; cite notice, overspending concerns
Summary
Multiple residents told the council at a Sept. 5 hearing they oppose raising property taxes now, raised questions about the legality of the posted notice, urged force-ranking the budget and warned the council against further erosion of public trust.
Several residents urged the council to adopt a no-new-revenue tax rate or at least delay a tax increase until cuts are force-ranked and new revenue is certain.
"I came up front here tonight to say that I'm against this tax rate increase," said Christopher Donahoe, a resident who also questioned whether the city's notice complied with Texas law. Carl Holter told the council approving a budget the city could not afford and then returning to ask for a tax increase is "not leadership" and urged the council to "admit the mistakes, stay where we're at, no new revenue." Other residents, including Kendra Ingett and Philip Long, said increases would disproportionately affect long-time in-town homeowners and recommended budget cuts and targeted fundraisers as alternatives.
