Council aide outlines November ballot tax-rate rebalancing to shore up operations

Assistant City Manager Matt Watson urged District 7 residents to support a proposed rebalancing of Garland’s tax rate at a recent town hall, saying the city plans to ask voters in November to move roughly three one-hundredths of a dollar ($0.03) from the debt-service portion of the rate into the operations-and-maintenance (M&O) portion.

Watson said state law limits annual operations revenue growth to 3.5%, which has compressed the M&O portion of the rate as property values have risen. “If we were just that average city, just an average city, we would have $90 million more in revenue for operations and maintenance,” Watson said, arguing the swap would preserve police, fire and library services. He added that the ballot language will “read in bold on the top, this is a tax rate increase,” because any increase to an M&O component must be disclosed as such under state law.

Watson and Councilman Joe Thomas Jr. stressed the measure is intended as a restructuring of the total tax burden rather than a new net increase, and staff said they expect final valuation numbers from the appraisal district before determining the exact effect on the total rate. Watson said the city is targeting a modest rebalancing that could ultimately lower the visible total rate once debt payments fall and valuations are finalized.

Next steps: staff will continue the budget process, finalize ballot language when appraisal values are available and present details to the public before the November election.