I hope you had an enjoyable 4th of July celebrating our Nation’s independence.
The 407 Breakout Project (expanding 407 from Cleveland-Gibbs Rd. in Northlake to Gateway Dr. in Argyle) is inching closer via our work with the utilities. There are no major updates this month other than the utilities are moving through TxDOT’s process for utility clearances. I have calls with the utilities every 1-2 weeks keeping the pressure on them. However, they are highly responsive and cooperative in trying to keep things moving, and I greatly appreciate their efforts to help us.
If you drive along Hwy 114 just east of I-35W, once you pass QT and PJ’s Coffee, you might have seen a large new structure coming up out of the ground. As of a week ago, all the exterior walls have been lifted into place except for a few left out for equipment access. Steel spans are being set for the roof.
This is Northlake’s new Dallas Multisport StarCenter. For anyone not aware, it is two sheets of ice for figure skating and hockey, eight basketball courts that convert to 16 volleyball courts and a restaurant. There will also be pickleball courts outside the facility. We anticipate significant completion in late spring.
The Town owns the facility; the Dallas Stars will operate it under a 30-year lease. No current or residential property tax is being used to fund this project, it is supported by the lease, Hotel Occupancy Tax and 25% of our 2% town sales tax. This will bring more retail to that area fulfilling the wishes of residents for more services, retail, and dining options nearby, but not at the expense of our more rural areas.
The council is currently working through the budget and has seen the first requests of staff for what they feel is needed to support their current level of service with the growth of our town. Several departments have asked to provide more staff or services that will be considered by council. We intend to keep operating under our low tax rate of 29.5 cents per $100 of valuation.
Did you know that this is the lowest tax rate of any home rule city in North Texas?
The only way to operate under this low tax rate is as a limited services town. We are often asked about providing additional services, like a library. We could do that; however the tax rate would have to rise significantly to do that, and that is not something we would like to do.
Last year, our residential property tax income was approximately $2.55M and our commercial property tax income was $2.65M or about $5.2M in total. Adding in other fees and income sources gave us $12.3M in revenue for a $12.3M balanced budget. Residents ask me often why we can’t do this or that with how much property tax “we collect,” often inferring that we have a huge tax rate as a town.
However, our residents last year only funded about 20% of our operating budget which doesn’t even cover the basic service of police, let alone public works, administration, or other expenditures. We work hard to make sure that we can keep the lowest tax rate around.
I encourage you to visit town.northlake.tx.us and click on the “FY 2024-2025 Budget In Brief” link on that page. Pages 9 and 10 are the most helpful to many people in understanding how our collected funds are used.
We encourage you to come and learn more about your local government. Come out and visit us at the next council meetings on July 10 and 24 at 5:30 p.m. As always, I am happy to answer any questions, and you can email me directly at [email protected].
