Government
Mayor seeks revised budget to lower taxes Mayor Eric Johnson requested lowering the property tax rate further than originally proposed for fiscal year 2023-24. In early August, City Manager T.C. Broadnax proposed a $4.63 billion budget, with a property tax decrease of about half a cent. What happened Johnson requested a revised proposal to provide more property tax relief to be voted on Sept. 20. The previous proposal lowered the tax rate from $0.7458 to $0.7393 per $100 valuation. Despite the reduction, most homeowners would see a tax increase as property value growth is estimated at 10.5%, according to an Aug. 17 memo from Council Member Cara Mendelsohn. The details Mendelsohn suggested a no-new-revenue rate,
Richardson ISD officials are planning to hire 36 new campus security officers who will mostly focus on elementary schools to comply with House Bill 2, which requires armed guards at every Texas school. Digging in To fund the effort, districts have received $15,000 in state funding per campus, which equals about $825,000 for RISD per year, along with a 28-cent increase in the state’s safety and security allotment per student that brings it to $10 per student. The expected cost for RISD is about $2.4 million. The new security officers, who will be stationed at various RISD elementary cam- puses, will not replace already existing school resource officers. Richardson ISD to hire new campus security
Houses line Wyatt Street in east Dallas.
CECILIA LENZEN/COMMUNITY IMPACT
which would lead to tax bills that look the same or lower than FY 2022-23. To do so, she suggested: • Removing “ghost” positions that have been left open or are unlikely to be filled • Resetting each department’s budget to the same amount in FY 2022-23, unless it has grown by more than 50% in the last five years • Removing funding for programs not in the domain of the city
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