An Email from Councilwoman Nancy Bielik:
Dated: 8/11/04 – 9:45 AM
I appreciate Mr. West and Mr. Sapp taking the time to learn about the
Senior/Disabled Tax Freeze. A lot of research has gone into both of their
columns and websites. Both are right on some portions of the issue. Both,
however, are looking at the Freeze from only their own perspectives.
There will be a public forum on September 7th to discuss the Tax
Freeze. Although invitations were sent to all seven council members and the
mayor, only 3 have responded. Jo Cox and I have agreed to attend, Tim Welch
sent regrets that he would be out of town that day and would be unable to
attend. The Forum is being hosted by North Richland Hills Citizens Group, and I
urge all council members to attend.
Using the figures from the NRH website, if the Freeze is implemented, the
city will not see an increase of $890,000 in revenues over a 5 year period.
That is an average of $178,000 per year out of a budget in excess of
$80,000,000, or less than 2/10 of 1%. That is not a "cost", that is
just revenue that will never appear. A cost is not the same as a reduction in
future revenue. If your pay is cut you see the difference in your paycheck. If
you don’t receive a raise you don’t see the difference.
The city is comprised of homes of all ages. My personal home is 41 years old, my city taxes have increased 62% in the past 10 years,
from $254 per year, to $411. That means that the value of my home has increased
in a like manner. My research has shown that while those of us in older homes
have seen our values increasing, those in newer homes are not seeing theirs
increase at the same rate. The square foot price of our older homes is less
than new homes because they were built at a lower price. That is not deflation.
The original price of my home, when newly built, was between $20,000 and
$30,000, the original price of a home in Mr. Sapp’s neighborhood is commonly
over $200,000.
Using the numbers above, and TAD’s 2004 market
price, my home’s value has increased approximately $70,400 in 41 years. That is
an uncompounded increase of 5.7% per year. That translates to an equal increase
in city taxes.
While the larger, and newer homes being built have increased the tax base
the year they were built, they have not increased in value after being built.
Mr. Sapp’s personal home is a prime example. His home’s city tax decreased after
it was built because it dropped in value. Did he use less city services when
his city tax dropped? Did I use more city services when my tax increased?
The majority of our seniors and disabled citizens live in the older and
smaller homes in our city. These are the homes that are the backbone of our
city. They shoulder the ever increasing taxes. As people talk of "class
warfare" they need to look at all the citizens of the city. They need to
look at why our citizens chose the homes they have. They need to look at the
amenities being given to the different neighborhoods.
Mr. Sapp stated, "...well known economists have predicted a dramatic
increase in seniors will weaken demand for larger homes and therefore reduce
their marketability and value." Should the city reduce the number of
larger homes being built because they will decrease in value and thereby reduce
our tax base? It has become the practice of our planning and zoning commission
and city council to only approve building permits to developers that want to
build the larger homes. If their marketability and value will decrease, why are
they being approved? Why are we not building affordable housing?
The amenities in our city vary by neighborhood. As an example, my
neighborhood park has been stripped over the years. First we lost our
restrooms. As the park is a mile from my home, if I took the kids to the park
and they "needed to go", it meant loading everyone in the car and
heading home. The most recent loss was the net on our tennis court. The park is
bordered by a dammed up drainage ditch that has been proven to be the home of
mosquitoes carrying
The city council just held a meeting to prepare a budget for next year. From
seeing the figures, I can assure both Mr. Sapp and Mr. West that there would be
no need to reduce services if the tax freeze were passed. Would we have to slow
down some proposed projects? Possibly. Would we have
to cut police, fire or senior centers? No. The city has plenty of money.
It is my opinion that we can afford the freeze. It needs to be budgeted,
along with all other matters that affect our city, but we can afford it.