*****Weather*****
WOW! This is November, right? Low at the 15th Tee on Live Oak was 27.7°, we got about 0.16 inch of rain before midnight. Heard sleet sometime in the night but the rain gauge doesn't measure that too well.... Winds blew in and the gusts were 25-30 mph. Kind of a Blue Norther! Looks like it's going to warm up a little with another chance of rain Wednesday and Thursday. So much for Fall! Here's a link to live information at the 15th Tee Box on Live Oak Golf Course. 38° right now with a light rain. (0.03 inch so far)
Although school and the city had a delayed start, there were no issues on the roads locally - the ground was warm and most of the moisture dried up by the time I left before 8:00 a.m.
*****Calendar*****
For those that haven't heard, Bella is Miss June in the 2020 calendar. If you haven't ordered one yet, I think there is still about 25 available. Here's a link to the full album. If you would like to try to get one of the remaining calendar, here is a link to the order form.
*****Joint Session, ZAPCO, Council, Comprehensive Plan*****
Slow start to the day, here's a link to the video, started at 10:00 a.m.
3) Postponed to December meeting.
4) Executive session. Lawsuit where we area a party with LTISD to a drainage issue. Shortest executive session ever - council came out and attorney gave a caption of the issue and settlement agreement - council voted to accept the settlement agreement. Unanimous.
5) Comprehensive Plan / Economic Development presentation by Chair Harland and Julie Oakley. Interesting discussion on the economic issues in the city. Lots of topics brought up including sales tax, property tax, empty business spaces, infrastructure and increasing costs. Pretty much boiled down to the issue per council members of would you rather have less services or higher taxes.
Lets break some of it down.
Let's start with sales taxes - consultant and committee pretty much said there would not be large increases in sales tax base because of the lack of area for large new businesses. There is no room for another HEB like store or Oaks commercial center. One council member asked if we were charging the same sales tax as other area cities.... Sales tax rates are set by the State - the max is 8.25% and the state takes 6.25%. The Library District gets .25% and the city gets the rest. Part of the city's part is dedicated to road repair. Every city is different but is capped at 8.25%.
There was a discussion of the empty business spaces in the commercial properties. One member stated that the Oaks had lots of empty space and so did the center where Wells Fargo, Firehouse Subs, etc. Rocco's space is still empty - a question was how to fill those spaces.
Interesting issue. If you look at the commercial areas where CVS and Wendy's are, they are full. The owner of those properties actively works to keep them that way. The vacant centers have consistently raised rent rates and the full centers have made concessions because of increased property taxes. The taxes have increased in part because of values that have increased since the Oaks sold. The leases are "triple net" - that means the tenant is responsible for paying property taxes along with utilities and some repairs. Of course that's not the only issue. Finding workers is also a significant problem. This issue of tax costs is not limited to Lakeway property taxes. The County, LTISD, ESD No 6, MUD, and Healthcare District all add to the issue. So what is the real issue? Is it the city's problem or the property owner's problem?
Infrastructure
This too is a thorny issue. As Mrs. Oakley stated, we are actually a pretty young city. Gated communities are not included in infrastructure issues (except access) because those roads are private. The new areas including Highlands and Serene Hills and the Preserve have fairly new roads. The crux of the current issue talked about is the original part of Lakeway - those roads are aging. There is a percentage of the Sales Tax that is dedicated to road repair and is set aside in a fund. Consultants "rate" the roads in Lakeway as to the need for repair and this fund is used yearly to overlay, repair or redo roads. Occasionally if there is a significant issue, funds are used from the general fund. An example of this was the bridge on Lakeway Blvd. that collapsed and had to be rebuilt. More on paying for roads later.
*****Increasing Costs and Taxes*****
There is great concern about the build out of Lakeway. Currently, a significant amount of new value is added to the tax rolls each year because of new commercial and residential properties. This will slow down and become much less over the next 10-15 years because of the build out. Previous councils and staff have understood that for years. Two things have happened that were not projected for nor known about.
The State of Texas in their infinite wisdom changed the annexation abilities of small cities (when they are in a county that is over a specific population - Travis is one of those counties) - that pretty much means we are now the way we will be. The only annexation that can be done is when it is requested by developers or residents. That is almost over because of the eventual build out of Serene Hills and The Highlands.
The State also changed the ability of the Cities to raise property taxes with a new cap that is half of the previous cap before a rollback election is triggered. There is a cut out for smaller cities - those under 30,000 population - that is us. Here is that formula definition as relayed to me by Interim City Manager Oakley:
"De Minimus Rate" is sum of
1) No-New-Revenue M&O Rate
2) the rate that when applied to the current total value will impose an amount of taxes equal to $500,000
3) debt rate
It's complex. The current rate of increase of value of our properties is figured into the equation (about 5% last year). This years budget tax rate stayed the same - thus with the property value increase the city collects in the neighborhood of $250,000 more - under the $500,000 cap.
Elected officials are worried that there will not be enough money without significant tax increases to continue the quality of life in the city. Therefore the question - more taxes or less services.
Some of my take on the meeting. I never heard anyone ask about cutting expenses except for downsizing BDS as the permitting and inspection process possibly slows down sometime in the next 5-15 years. Also, it seems there was some confusion on losing tax income when the build out is complete. There is no loss of tax income, in fact it will still increase with property values and the increased values will still be there. A caveat is if for some reason our property values went down. If you will remember, in the last down turn in the economy our values did flatten, but did not decrease.
New roads have generally not been built using taxpayer funds. One exception was the road by the police facility - that was included in the bond. Generally large expenses are bonded out - the city leaders have done a great job of deciding on current needs and scheduling them for either bond issues or expenditures as needed. This has given Lakeway a GREAT bond rating and actually low bonded debt as compared to like cities.
Current council is not only looking at repairs but actually bonding out new road construction. This is an expensive process that is significantly different than past processes.
Future Land Use Map (FLUM)
There was much discussion on this also. The map shown on the screen was very hard to see. It appeared that there was not much change from the previous land use map. In fact, the plans the Committee centered on were making the 620 corridor "Mixed Use" but with a list of uses. Some were 2 story (business on bottom and possible residence on top) and 3 story (business on bottom and 2 story residence on top). I will post the "FLUM" (that has already changed) this week sometime.
Interim City Manager Julie Oakley said she is putting up the Power Point presentation on the Web site tomorrow. It will have more information.
Interim City Manager Julie Oakley said she is putting up the Power Point presentation on the Web site tomorrow. It will have more information.
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*****Wildlife Open House*****
There will be a Wildlife Open House Thursday from 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. There will be a second meeting Friday from 9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a..m. These Open Houses will not have any presentations, they will simply be charts and displays that give information about the Lakeway Wildlife situation.
*****Blood Drive*****
The Lakeway Community Blood Drive is Saturday, November 16. Here is a link to more information so you can sign up! It's GREAT for the community!
*****CBC*****
City Building will meet in regular session on Thursday. Here is their agenda.
There's a lot going on in our little city! Tell your friends about the Lakeway Update Blog if they want to keep up with the goings on. If you would like to be added to the email list (or removed), send a note to lakeway@bain.us and I'll get it done.
Thanks for your interest!
Joe Bain
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