Post by mikesnyder on Sept 7, 2023 16:35:03 GMT
I saw the email today about possible rate increases for FY28. Worst case of a $200 increase per month? While worst case, this is exactly why I am pleading, let us please focus on the "needs" of Hutto and not the "wants".
It's easy to say a $10,000,000 Fritz park improvement will only add $70 or so $$ a year to an average person's tax bill. But that is $70/yr for the next 30yrs. Then add in a $40,000,000 library, $75,000,000 public safety center, $50,000,000 public works building (last three are wags based on what other cities have recently spent for like improvements), an $88,000,000 bridge over CR132 among many other road improvements and it is very clear to me, that we are not going to be able to afford increases in city services for a couple of years and that we should focus on roads and not adding parks and a lot of money for improvements.
This is all IF, our credit rating will allow all of this borrowing.
People can go to my social media account and claim a mischaracterization or misinformation, but I am only relaying what we are being told.
Open to suggestions, but I think we need to really work on the budget this year and keep our already HIGH tax bill the same, and work to focus on how we blunt the impact of what we have coming. We know that we need to go out for bonds on our roads. That alone is a necessity and will cause taxes to go up more.
Unfortunately, I do not see a path forward to expand library hours, park programs and some of these other positions when we have massive costs coming. The 39 positions alone will add over $3,000,000 to our M/O expenses and the city grew our taxes from new growth by $2.2M.
Proceeding on the current path would literally be building Hutto for "those moving in" when they take the place of "those moving out" due to the high cost of living.
It's easy to say a $10,000,000 Fritz park improvement will only add $70 or so $$ a year to an average person's tax bill. But that is $70/yr for the next 30yrs. Then add in a $40,000,000 library, $75,000,000 public safety center, $50,000,000 public works building (last three are wags based on what other cities have recently spent for like improvements), an $88,000,000 bridge over CR132 among many other road improvements and it is very clear to me, that we are not going to be able to afford increases in city services for a couple of years and that we should focus on roads and not adding parks and a lot of money for improvements.
This is all IF, our credit rating will allow all of this borrowing.
People can go to my social media account and claim a mischaracterization or misinformation, but I am only relaying what we are being told.
Open to suggestions, but I think we need to really work on the budget this year and keep our already HIGH tax bill the same, and work to focus on how we blunt the impact of what we have coming. We know that we need to go out for bonds on our roads. That alone is a necessity and will cause taxes to go up more.
Unfortunately, I do not see a path forward to expand library hours, park programs and some of these other positions when we have massive costs coming. The 39 positions alone will add over $3,000,000 to our M/O expenses and the city grew our taxes from new growth by $2.2M.
Proceeding on the current path would literally be building Hutto for "those moving in" when they take the place of "those moving out" due to the high cost of living.