Keeping Hope & Recap on the Waxahachie Tax Increase Public Hearing

 

Hello Friends,

    First, let me thank all the folks who spoke at last night’s Council meeting.  Speaking in public can be intimidating and daunting at best and then throw in a controversial topic like politics and it can make even the strongest person a bit weak in the knees.  I still don’t like speaking in public, so I understand.  Nevertheless, those who showed up to the meeting and those who spoke are to be commended for doing what they felt was right. 

    Next, I have been told that several emails were sent to Council members.  I don’t know if they were for the tax rate or against, but I appreciate all who got involved and took the time to at least send an email!  Participation at the local level of government is so very important because that is the governmental level that really impacts our daily lives and yet many don’t know the importance and some who do know, just don’t care.  I want to be sure that those who contacted Council via email  are recognized for their efforts. 

    I also want to extend a huge THANK YOU to Council Member Billie Wallace who made it very clear that she does NOT support the Council taxing citizens at practically the highest amount they can without an election.  It is unfortunate that she was in the minority, but she stood strong and held to her convictions, so thank you for that!!! I’ve been in her shoes before and it’s hard - really hard.  

    I want to make one clarification for those who were wondering about the vote last night. That vote was not actually approving the tax rate, but was to set the date for the tax rate adoption. I do not believe the item will be listed as a public hearing at the adoption meeting; however, you are welcome to address it in the public comments portion in the beginning of the meeting on Tuesday, September 6th, if you wish. 

    For those who were unable to catch the live-stream or attend the meeting last night, you can watch a recording of the meeting here: https://waxahachietx.new.swagit.com/videos/179611

    Now, here’s the part I really wanted to get to…. I was upset, disgusted and flabbergasted at the behavior from some on our Council last night.  Some called Representative Brian Harrison “irresponsible” for sending a letter to taxing entities asking them to adopt the NNR (no-new-revenue rate).  A state-level elected official reached out to local entities and that’s irresponsible?! I was grateful that Representative Harrison had done such a thing!  All too often, we have elected officials, especially at the state and federal level, who don’t really give much time or effort into the local governmental entities, but he did.   Thank you, Representative Harrison!

    Some Council Members were downright disrespectful to those who showed up, in my opinion. We have a hard time getting residents involved and instead of thanking them, the residents were chastised for not coming to ENOUGH meetings!  That is very belittling to residents. 
I will address some comments made by Mayor Pro Tem Wright.  Last night, Mr. Wright  said pretty much everything he had already said to me in an email on Saturday. I also responded to his email, but none of THAT was mentioned at all, nor did he ever respond to that email or address any of the questions in it.  I will just share my email back to him, which I think covers the question of whether the cities I mentioned are comparable:

“Good Morning Mr. Wright,

My examples were simply to show that cities CAN thrive and adopt the NNR (or below) at the same time.  My basis for comparison was simply North Texas because I knew if I used cities from elsewhere in the state, then THOSE would be called incomparable. 

Waxahachie needs only to compare to Waxahachie. 

1) Is the city giving the taxpayers a break yet or is the city taxing at the max it can without an election?  

2) Why would you or anyone else up at that dais be okay with passing a tax rate that is so far above the NNR that ALSO includes using increments to make the voter approval rate higher so the city can tax even more?

3) Everyone in Waxahachie has had to tighten their belts due to the rising costs of goods and services.  How can you support a total tax levy INCREASE of 23.68% from last year if the 63 cent rate is adopted?  (Numbers from public notice.)

4) “This year’s budget will raise more total property taxes than last year’s budget by $5,647,240 or 19.6%, and of that amount, $2,022,980 is tax revenue to be raised from new property added to the tax roll this year.”  

4A. Did your home budget increase by 19.6%? Ours didn’t and I bet the majority of Waxahachie is like us. 

4B. Why does the city have the right to increase their budget by 19.6%? 

4C. Why can’t the city grow the budget by the $2 Million from new properties? I think that would be a VERY reasonable request. 

5) Why does Waxahachie REFUSE to even explore the possibility of lowering taxes?  THAT is what makes the Council look so bad in the eyes of residents because it looks like y’all don’t care or aren’t even trying to help. 

The honest truth is this:  Waxahachie is literally taxing people (and businesses) at the maximum it can get away with. Yes, you could TRY for higher, but everyone knows that it wouldn’t pass in an election because people are tapped out.  To add insult to injury, those increments were used to bump it up even higher… I just find that reprehensible, to say the least. 

Please consider directing staff to at LEAST split the difference between the NNR and what’s proposed.

Thank you for your consideration.

Melissa”

 

    I, like many last night, felt hopeless after hearing the comments from our elected city leadership. It’s frustrating because it feels that we are not heard.   It’s frustrating that instead of even LOOKING at the numbers involved in a NNR budget or even HALF the difference between the NNR and the proposed (almost max) rate, some on council vent their frustrations on the residents they have been elected to serve!  Not only that, but they throw the burden of the budget onto the citizens!  They are in that position and should be having the city manager direct his team to see what could be removed without significant impact to residents.  They should have given city management the direction to create a NNR budget from the get-go to at least have a starting point.  The burden of proving why they NEED  to take our money is on THE CITY - NOT the citizens.

 
    That all being said… I titled this blog “Keeping Hope…” and I meant it.  Please don’t give up reaching out to city leadership.  So many of us LOVE THIS CITY.  That’s why it’s heartbreaking to be treated this way by those who are called public servants. If we didn’t care, we wouldn’t even bother raising a fuss, but we do.  Please don’t stop caring or fighting for what you believe to be the right thing.  I think it’s fair to say that all of us want Waxahachie to be a better city for our children and grandchildren and generations beyond. The only way that can happen is to be involved. The more ideas that are given and shared amongst those in leadership positions, the better!  We just need to have a Council who is receptive to ideas.  
I don’t say that I have all the answers.  I don’t even pretend to, but I can say that I pray for our city leadership and citizens too.  The only true way to fail our city is to give up.  Please keep hope alive that our city leaders will become more receptive and open to the ideas of others.      

     

    We cannot continue to be a town that does things the same way over and over simply because “that’s the way it’s always been done.”  Sometimes you need to think outside of the box.  
 

    At the end of the day, we are all neighbors. This isn’t Dallas. It’s not Fort Worth. This is Waxahachie and we can all contribute to the current and future success of this city as long as we don’t lose hope.