School is back in full swing, sports are being played, and rhythm has returned to many residents’ lives. For your local governments and schools, this means passing budgets and setting tax rates…
Northlake has a long history of enjoying low tax rates; Town staff and Council worked to make sure that we continued this tradition. We have enjoyed our 29.5 cents per $100 of valuation for decades, however, our state legislature has made this progressively more difficult from year to year to set and maintain low tax rates. New rules have been instituted over the past several years regarding the setting of tax rates. To keep large cities such as Houston or Austin from overtaxing residents and over-inflating their budgets, there are now several mechanisms in place that limit how much “new revenue” a city or town can collect.
Several Councilors and I heard from residents asking why were we raising the tax rate. Council had to publish “this is an increase in the tax rate” because we are collecting more revenue than the prior year due to the rapid growth of our town. We need to have more police and public works staff to support our increasing population. It is wrong that we are forced to use this language even when the rate hasn’t changed in decades. These state policies have burdened fast-growing municipalities like Northlake with onerous rules. This may one day force us to hold an election just to maintain our incredibly low tax rate, while still being forced to say that we are raising the tax rate. Please know that the council is committed to maintaining our low tax rate no matter what language we are forced to publish. On Sept 12th, Town Council voted unanimously to keep our tax rate at 29.5 cents.
We are focused this year on providing more community policing, speed enforcement and addressing quality of life issues. We are adding a new service to this budget, outfitting our public works department with lane striping machine. We have traditionally had to outsource this work, but we can be more responsive by owning the equipment. I have called for specific lane striping projects throughout the town. The council has supported this effort, and we will add some custom striping within some neighborhoods that will make the roads feel narrower and this should have a positive effect against habitual speeding in these specific areas.
The Belmont Fresh Water Supply District #1 in Harvest and I have been working with Argyle ISD to address traffic issues surrounding Jane Ruestmann Elementary with the car line. We hope to see some changes come in the coming months. My relationship with Belmont FWSD has grown strong, and working with their leadership has been productive and cooperative. Many thanks to several board members including Board President Jeff Riggs.
There are a lot of changes coming within the next year. The 407 Breakout project is moving forward, though a little slower than anyone, including myself, would like. This will widen 407 from Cleveland Gibbs Rd. in Northlake to Gateway Drive in Argyle. The embankments under the 35W bridge will be dug out, adding more capacity under the bridge. This is due to begin in June 2025, possibly sooner if the utilities can get relocated faster. Soon after this project is completed, 35W will begin access road construction from 407 all the way to Denton. This will bring a “final configuration” to 407 and the Robson Ranch Rd./Crawford Rd. interchanges at 35W. These are all TxDOT projects and we are leveraging County leadership in a push to get these expedited.
In other news, we welcome Jimmy John’s to Northlake Commons, and expect to welcome more businesses soon as more commercial development progresses, particularly at Cleveland Gibbs Rd. & Robson Ranch Rd.
Finally, I would like to welcome back Councilor Alexandra Holmes. She attended our last council meeting via teleconference, just a short time after suffering a stroke. I am grateful that she is expected to a make a full recovery. She is already back serving her community; we are celebrating her healing and we are thankful for God’s grace.
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