Randall Claims: Larger Property Tax Bills Are a “Tax Cut”

For most of us in League City, our property tax bill is higher again this year. The average resident’s tax bill is higher now than when Mayor Toni Randall took office less than three years ago. This is true despite the fact that many additional homes have been added to the tax rolls in that time, pouring even more revenue into city coffers.

Randall offers an Obama-style explanation of her budget, claiming that last year’s reduction in the tax rate of $0.0014 per hundred dollars valuation is a “tax decrease,” even as tax bills go up. Rising property values continue to increase total taxes, and the city is keeping a good portion of that extra money. So, while we may pay a slightly lower percentage this year, most of us will pay more.

The year before, Randall’s city government kept (all of) the nearly $2 million in additional taxes generated by higher property values, and refused to offset the tax increase through a rate reduction. Despite having campaigned on the need for improved city infrastructure, and despite the increased taxes, Randall also chose to fund no capital improvement projects. So we are paying more just to fund the annual operation of our city government, not to manage our long-term growth.

The year before that (2008), League City actually imposed a 3½ percent rate increase on taxpayers. These taxes were assessed to pay for construction of a $14.2 million bypass on FM 518 at the “5 corners.” This bypass project was ill-planned, as it was soon determined that it would do little to relieve congestion at that heavily traveled intersection. But the city still spent $1.6 million on engineering and planning, which were wasted.

To make matters worse, we sold $11.4 million in bonds for the project, which was not built. The bond funds sit idle, earning little to no interest. Meanwhile, taxpayers are burdened with paying half a million dollars or more in interest on those funds every year.

League City doesn’t need more wasteful spending, higher taxes, or Obama-nomics budget claims. We need straight talk and tight-fisted leadership to see us through these challenging times.

While most of us have tightened our belts, our city government continues to loosen its belt a notch each year. And this year, they bought themselves a bigger belt, and called it a “tightening.”

We’ve had enough spin from Mayor Toni Randall. The numbers don’t lie, and the results are plainly seen in our higher budgets and higher taxes, all in the midst of this recession.

It’s time for conservative leadership for League City’s future.