STAFF REPORT
Kyle residents say public safety and roads need the most attention in their city, with funding for economic development following closely behind.
A group of 50 residents who attended a community visioning forum in May recommended selling bonds and raising taxes and fees to pay for:
• the reconstruction and expansion of five roads,
• construction of a new police station,
• hiring up to 25 new police officers and associated staff and equipment,
• engineering for new roads,
• reallocation of sales tax currently going toward property tax reduction,
• expansion of the city’s water and wastewater system to spur additional economic development.
But pursuing all of the projects at once would increase residents’ tax burden too steeply, city officials said. The average resident’s tax bill would go up by $89.13 per month and their utility bill would increase by $4.50 per month, according to city estimates.
“We realize that it would be very difficult to implement all of the recommendations in the next budget cycle,” City Manager Lanny Lambert said in a prepared statement. “City staff will be working with the City Council through the budget process to turn this into a viable capital improvements plan that will turn these projects into reality within a reasonable time frame.”
City officials also hope new tax revenue from Kyle’s Walmart store could offset the cost of future projects, though the planned opening of the store is two years away.
The forum was a follow-up to the city’s first community visioning forum in March, in which residents brainstormed a list of project priorities that would have cost the city more than $125 million to pursue. At the second meeting, residents whittled down the list to a more manageable amount.
“This was a very enlightening process with some very interesting outcomes,” Mayor Pro Tem David Wilson said in a statement. “I think we have a very good idea of what is important to our residents and what they might be willing to afford. We are going to have to consider the outcomes of these meetings very diligently as we move forward with our budget deliberations for next year.”
The forum participants said the roads that should be addressed first – ranked in order of importance – are Lehman, Burleson, Bunton, the Marketplace extension and Goforth. Marketplace Road, just west of H-E-B and Target, would be extended to meet Burleson near the railroad tracks, sidestepping the Interstate 35 access road.
