Overly conservative estimate of sales-tax revenue pays off

With September just around the corner, it’s time for everyone’s favorite annual event: the West Lake Hills city budget planning process, a six-week long whirlwind of fun and excitement for residents and taxpayers of all ages. We’ll host a series of public meetings and forums to discuss everything from staff salaries and retirement account contributions to street paving and garbage collection. And don’t forget everyone’s favorite topic – property taxes.

Good news on that front: The City Council voted Aug. 11 to set the maximum possible property tax rate at the current, nominal rate of .0534 per $100 of taxable property value for the coming fiscal year 2011, which starts on October 1. That’s the same tax rate we’ve had in place since at least FY 2007 and preserves our standing as one of the lowest municipal tax rates in the entire state. And with the average appraised property values in our area going down this year for the first time in recent memory, many residents will see their municipal tax bills drop.

And more good news on the budget front. With careful management of our current budget, we’re projecting a surplus at the end of FY2010. During the budget process last summer, we conservatively anticipated a significant decline in sales tax revenues compared to FY2009. Since sales taxes represent about 60 percent of our city’s revenues, we tightened the belt accordingly. As the year unfolded, we were pleased to see that our projections were overly conservative – actual sales tax revenues exceeded the budgeted amounts. The resulting surplus will be rolled into the city’s already sizable “savings account” as a safety net for future rainy days.

But we’re anticipating some big expenses in the coming months as we move forward with some capital projects that were delayed during 2010. We expect to break ground on a much needed addition to City Hall in the coming weeks that will provide more storage space for city staff, which will free up more office space in the existing building. We’ll also be looking at sizable expenditures to resurface numerous streets and upgrade critical city infrastructure. And we’ll be considering expanding our wastewater system to serve the Hull Circle area where aging septic may be difficult to replace.

As we move through the budget planning process, the City Council and I would love to hear from you. We’ll be discussing the budget at 7p.m. meetings on Aug. 25, Aug. 31, Sept. 8 and Sept. 22. Feel free to come down and share your thoughts with us. Or send an email to mayor@westlakehills.org, and I will share it with the entire Council.

In other news, I’m pleased to report recent progress with the possible merger of the Ridgewood Village Water System into Water District 10. Over the past few months, volunteer water attorney extraordinaire Tony Corbett, and I have been working with the WD10 Board of Directors to plot the best course forward to help the 100 Ridgewood area property owners secure access to a reliable water source. During last year’s terrible drought, these residents of the easternmost portion of West Lake Hills who receive their water from a well that taps into the Edwards Aquifer were placed under severe water use restrictions when the aquifer level dropped to precipitous levels.

Now, with the WD10 Board expected to take decisive action at its recent meeting, it appears that a permanent solution is right around the corner. Residents may be allowed to annex into WD10 under a mechanism that would allow WD10 to recover the substantial cost to replace the aging pipes and infrastructure from the affected customers without passing the cost along to the District’s existing customers.

It has taken many months to reach this milestone, and much work remains to be done. But I applaud the WD10 Board for their careful consideration of the options, especially Board President Clif Drummond who has worked diligently to define the challenges and identify solutions. The Ridgewood residents and I greatly appreciate it.

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