ET taxing entities budgeting wisely

Published 8:59 pm Saturday, August 24, 2013

It’s budget season — local taxing entities are preparing for the upcoming new fiscal year with proposed budgets and tax rates. These don’t get the attention we often pay to budget talks in Washington, but we should. Local taxes make up a substantial portion of our tax burden, and local budget decisions often have a much more immediate and direct effect on our daily lives than anything that happens in Washington.

The Big Three taxing entities locally are the city of Tyler, Smith County, and Tyler Independent School District. Close examination of the processes and proposed budgets and tax rates, for each of these entities, shows we’ve elected responsible leaders who are carefully weighing the needs of the citizens and the duties of government against the burden of taxation.

For many years, we’ve held the city of Tyler up as the gold standard of how to do government right. Decisions made in the 1990s — and adhered to during the recent Great Recession — have resulted in a property tax rate in Tyler far below that of any similar-size city in Texas.

And despite a proposed tax rate increase that amounts to about 6 percent — from 20.77 cents per $100 valuation to 22 cents — the city remains something of a “poster child” for good government. The reasons city leaders cited for the hike (some deferred maintenance that shouldn’t be put off any longer, and the need to stop dipping into the fund balance to pay for ongoing expenses) seem valid.

Still, such a tax rate increase could have been phased in over a number of years. When asked about this in a recent editorial board meeting, city officials said they wanted to get it over with, and didn’t foresee any further substantial increases in years to come. The city has built up a lot of credibility over the years; it can afford to spend a little of that now.

Smith County has, in recent years, emerged as another gold standard. County government is a notoriously difficult beast, and in the past, our county Commissioners Court has been destructively divided. Not anymore. There’s unity of focus and purpose on the court, and that’s reflected in the county’s proposed budget and tax rate. Commissioners propose to keep the rate level for the coming year (32.3 cents per $100 valuation). The county will continue to fund capital projects on a pay-as-you-go basis, which is a responsible decision as we see fluctuations in the jail population and with unanswered questions about the Affordable Care Act.

The Tyler school district also proposes a tax rate that shows no increase over last year’s $1.375 per $100 valuation, although the budget reflects additional state funding and some higher property values. The extra $7 million in the proposed $134.8 million budget will help pay for teacher raises and some additional staff.

Last year, voters expressed their support for the district with the approval of a $160.5 million bond proposal. As the district continues to budget responsibly, it can build upon the capital it’s gained with its constituents.

We seem to be through the worst of the Great Recession. It’s been tough, on our personal budgets and our public budgets.

But things are looking up. And as they do, it’s time to consider anew how our local governments are performing. It’s time to stop measuring such performance by dollars alone or measuring tax rates only as a sign of good sustained management practices.

The question to ask now is, “Are they governing well?”

In the case of the city of Tyler, Smith County, and the Tyler school district, it seems long-term decisions are paying off in good management and governance practices.