Hello Friends!
This is it. It's go time! The only Waxahachie meeting that is on the calendar for this week (as of noon on 8/27) is the City Council Special Meeting on Tuesday, August 30, 2022 at 5:30 PM. It's possible that some other meetings may be added at a later time, so please check back on the city's website later in the week. The link to do so is here: https://www.waxahachie.com/calendar.php
So let's get to it!
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Tuesday, August 30, 2022
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5:30 PM - City Council SPECIAL Meeting
Council Chamber, City Hall
401 S. Rogers St.
4 - Public Comments: While you are able talk about anything you'd like to during public comments, if you are going to speak regarding the budget or the tax rate, I'd highly encourage you to wait until that item since the sole purpose of this special meeting is to hold public hearings on each - the tax rate and budget for FY 23
5 - Public Hearing on the proposed Tax Rate for fiscal year 2022-2023
6 - Public Hearing on the Waxahachie proposed budget for FY 23 and there will be a vote on this item, but this vote is ONLY to set the date for the adoption, which they are proposing to be done at the next regular Council meeting, on September 6, 2022 at 7:00 PM. They do provide a very, very thousand foot view of the budget in the packet, but if you are interested, I encourage you to look through it.
Here is the information provided in the agenda packet (linked above) regarding the tax rate:
There is a worksheet for calculating all the different things like the No-New-Revenue Rate, the Voter-Approval Rate and Total Tax Rate. It should be posted on this website at some point. Ellis County already has theirs on there. https://ellis.trueprodigy-taxtransparency.com/taxTransparency/propertySearch At any rate, on that worksheet, you will notice lots of numbers, but two I want to highlight are the original Voter Approval Rate and the Final Voter Approval Rate. To me, this goes to show the level of greed involved in this particular year's proposed tax rate and budget (since the budget is funded by the tax rate). In their graph above, you will see a Voter Approval Rate of 0.63035. This is very important because if the City of Waxahachie proposed to adopt a tax rate ABOVE 0.63035, there would be a mandatory (by law) election held to get the voter's approval. This is where the next picture comes into play.
*** Hopefully you can read line 58 which shows the Voter Approval Rate of 0.626959. The City COULD keep this amount, but they (and they have the right to do this, although I don't think they should have) added unused increments to * RAISE * the Voter Approval Rate higher!! *** If the city had proposed a 63 cent rate at the original Voter Approval Rate, then the voters would have had a chance to approve or deny that tax hike... but now, we don't.
From the Texas Comptroller's website:
Unused Increment Rate
The unused increment rate is the three-year rolling sum of the difference between the adopted tax rate and the voter-approval tax rate and is only available to a taxing unit other than a special taxing unit. The unused increment rate can be used to increase the voter-approval tax rate, depending upon the tax rates adopted by the taxing unit in the previous three years. For example, a city has the ability to “bank” any unused amounts below the voter-approval tax rate to use for up to three years.
The link to the Comptroller's website where this and more information can be found is here: https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/property-tax/truth-in-taxation/calculations.php
I have posted plenty of reasons why I don't think that the City Council should adopt the proposed 63 cent tax rate, but I think it can all boil down to this example I've shown above. Yes, the city is growing, but use that growth and the massive amount of sales tax (which some is already going to fund the budget and lower the tax rate... let that sink in for a minute...) and give residents a break. Yes, the Council might consider homestead exemptions NEXT YEAR, and that would be great for homeowners then and IF they do it, but they can also lower the tax rate RIGHT NOW. In addition, the homestead exemptions won't help renters who keep seeing the taxes impact their rent and according to the city's website, that is almost 40% of residents. The cost of rent in this town is RIDICULOUS. Here's the link to the demographics breakdown where you can see the renter numbers, along with other information: https://www.waxahachie.com/departments/economic_development_new/site_location_center/demographics.php?fbclid=IwAR2EI6y9z17hWC99GGW2WUpwB1so7j_Lk92GGDlsxrPiCKB7dNF5zDHZFt8
This meeting IS absolutely open to the public and really is your last chance to speak to Council regarding the tax rate before it is adopted in a week or two. The meeting will also be live-streamed at the following link: https://www.waxahachie.com/government/city_council/city_council_meeting_live_stream.php
I am not going to be at the hearing on Tuesday, but I'm still going to contact the Council and let them know I am very against this tax rate and highly encourage all who cannot be there, to reach out and give the Council your input on the matter. Their emails can be found here: https://www.waxahachie.com/government/city_council/index.php
Thank you all for caring so much about the current and future fate of our beautiful City that we love. Whether you support the proposed tax rate or oppose it, Waxahachie is nothing without the amazing citizens who live here.
For those who would like more information about the tax rate and the public hearing, you can go to this event (even though it is on Facebook, it says that all can see it) and click on the discussion tab under the event details. https://fb.me/e/1oxqVE9h3
I hope everyone has a FANTASTIC week ahead and for those who are speaking on Tuesday - THANK YOU!!!! I LOVE that people care enough to take ACTION and make a difference!
Your Friendly Neighbor,
Melissa Olson
(text) 817-507-5162
olsonfortexas@gmail.com
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