Hey Y'all!
It's been a minute since I've posted here, but I hope all are well and staying as cool as possible in this summer heat!
There's been a lot said about taxes and for the purposes of this newsletter, will be referring to the City of Waxahachie taxes and link you to the information regarding this week's city meetings.
The best way to lower your taxes is to GET INVOLVED. You can do that by going to your City Council meetings, budget hearings and tax rate hearings. You can also do this by voting!! Waxahachie Council elections are held in May every year. (You don't vote directly for the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem, but the Council reorganizes after the election every year and they decide who serves which role amongst themselves. Changing this involves a Charter change and most importantly, a Council who is even willing to let residents vote on this issue. So far, Council hasn't been willing.)
The taxes we pay are based upon the tax rate (set by different taxing authorities such as the City Council, County Commissioners and School Board Trustees). In the presence of rising appraisals (since they are prescribed by law to reflect market value), tax rates should come down. The elected officials mentioned above (council, commissioners and trustees) know how much the appraisals are BEFORE setting tax rates.
BEFORE
This means that when they set the tax rate, they know whether it is truly a reduction in your tax bill or not. Please keep in mind that Council has nothing to do with SETTING your appraisals. Only the Ellis County Appraisal District does that, but the Council will know what numbers ECAD has already set before they adopt their tax rate.
This is not going to surprise anyone, but your tax bill this year will most likely be higher, if what Waxahachie proposes is what Council approves. Will anyone who was mad about their taxes actually contact their City Council members or attend the hearings? That remains to be seen, but here are the numbers. Rates are given in the amount per $100 of valuation.
Current Tax Rate: 0.630000
Proposed Tax Rate: 0.610000 (2 cent decrease is good right? You can decide for yourself.)
Max Rate they can charge without an Election: 0.610229
NNR (or amount they could charge to get the same revenue on same properties last year (not including new growth): 0.538795
The source of my numbers is the agenda packet for Monday's meeting, number 18. Here's the link to that information: https://storage.googleapis.com/document-uploads-001/uploads/video/agenda_file/268434/8-7-23_City_Council_Agenda_Packet.pdf
Wouldn't it be great if the city could get things done for the NNR and only use new growth to pay for growing expenses? Shouldn't new growth be paying for itself? I think it should, BUT, there are some things that need to be done like updated salaries for some of Waxahachie's hardest workers and that may take more, but it doesn't take 7 cents OVER the NNR to get that done. How about cutting the difference in half at the very least, if you can't make it down to the NNR?!
For me, as long as the City of Waxahachie continues to tax people at the MAXIMUM TAX RATE ALLOWED BY LAW WITHOUT AN ELECTION, I WILL continue to speak out against that, because that's not right.
PROPOSED Public Hearing on the tax rate is August 29 at 5:30 PM in the City Hall Chambers at 401 S. Rogers St. (if approved on the 08/07/23 meeting).
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Monday, August 7, 2023
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6:15 PM - City Council Briefing Session
Council Conference Room, City Hall
401 S. Rogers St.
Public are allowed and welcome to come listen and even live-stream the briefing session that will not be live-streamed by the city.
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7:00 PM - City Council Regular Meeting
Council Chamber, City Hall
401 S. Rogers St.
Agenda Packet: https://storage.googleapis.com/document-uploads-001/uploads/video/agenda_file/268434/8-7-23_City_Council_Agenda_Packet.pdf
There are lots of interesting items in this meeting, so I highly encourage you to read through the entire Agenda Packet or at least look at the 1st and 2nd pages to see if there are any topics that are particularly interesting to you.
** Public comments are held in the beginning of the meeting and this is one of the only times you may have the opportunity to address certain items in the meeting such as item number 14.
14 - Council will be voting on $40,000,000 worth of debt to pay for infrastructure items but also will include "the construction, installation and equipment of park and recreational improvements in the City". At least WISD takes items to the public for voting on. Council will decide on whether to take on debt, BACKED BY OUR TAXES, without letting us vote on it. Please make no mistake, I've asked for these items to be brought to residents for voting, but they just don't want to do that. Maybe this Council will listen if more people ask for that.
15 - Consider proposed Resolution approving assignment of private activity bond authority to Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA)
18 - Consider setting Proposed Tax Rate and Dates for Public Hearing.
* FY2024 Waxahachie Proposed Budget: https://files4.1.revize.com/waxahachietx/FY2024%20propose%20budget.pdf
If unable to attend the meeting in person, you may watch online at https://www.waxahachie.com/government/city_council/city_council_meeting_live_stream.php
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Tuesday, August 8, 2023
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3:00 PM - WCDC - Special Meeting
Council Chamber, City Hall
401 S. Rogers St.
2 - Public Comments
3 - Hear Update on Mural project
4 - Board discussion of other future projects and initiatives
This is interesting not just because of all the projects and things going on, but because it's a special meeting. In other words, there was something important enough that they had to call this meeting instead of waiting for the next one.
Residents are welcome to attend, but it will not be live-streamed.
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Thursday, August 10, 2023
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5:30 PM - Heritage Preservation Commission Regular Meeting
Council Chamber / Conference Room, City Hall
401 S. Rogers St.
2 - Public Comments
6 - Workshop on proposed expansion of the Downtown Overlay District - **Workshops don't occur every day at these meetings, so this would be a very good one to attend.
Residents are welcome to attend. This meeting won't be live-streamed.
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6:00 PM - Mid-Way Regional Airport Joint Airport Board Regular Meeting
Upstairs Common Area
Mid-Way Regional Airport
131 Airport Dr., Midlothian
Holy Cow! This meeting is jam-packed with REALLY important business pertaining to the Mid-Way Regional Airport. Please review the agenda, linked above. Residents are welcome to attend. This meeting will not be live-streamed.
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In additional to all of the above, there's back-to-school and everything! It's a busy time of year for sure, but please don't forget to be involved. If you can't make it to any of the meetings, be sure to get in touch with your elected officials. Contact information for Waxahachie City Council members can be found on the city's website here: https://www.waxahachie.com/government/city_council/index.php
Hope everyone has an amazing rest of your weekend and a wonderful week ahead!
Your Friendly Neighbor,
Melissa Olson
olsonfortexas@gmail.com
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