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Garland mayor urges voters to back 'swap and drop' to lower taxes and protect services
Summary
Garland's mayor told the Senior Citizens Advisory Commission the city will ask voters to 'swap' debt capacity to operations in a November election; he said approval could reduce tax bills while a rejection would force cuts to parks, libraries and special events.
The mayor of Garland briefed the Senior Citizens Advisory Commission on the city's proposed "swap and drop" measure and urged public participation in upcoming budget hearings.
The mayor said the city plans to ask voters this fall to move some tax capacity from the bond (debt) side to the operations side so the city can sustain services for new facilities. "Your taxes will actually go down if you vote for this," the mayor said, adding the city needs to budget ongoing operating costs for recently completed facilities such as rec centers and pools. He told the commission the city's annual budget is about $1,100,000,000 and that roughly 63% of operating costs are fixed by public-safety obligations.
The mayor framed the proposal as a two-scenario plan: approve the swap and operations are funded without recurring one-time monies, he said; reject it and the city would likely cut parks, libraries and special events because public safety funding can't be reduced. He invited commissioners and residents to attend an all-day budget workshop on Saturday starting at 8:30 a.m. and encouraged public comment at the formal hearings.
