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District 2 Newsletter
Recently the National League of Cities issued their Fiscal Conditions Report for Cities across the nation and one startling finding was that revenue growth “stalled” last year and the trend is continuing, creating real problems for City Budgets.
While the economy has remained healthy why are so many Cities experiencing revenue growth stagnation or even declines ?
The report noted that property taxes have largely stayed stable but sales tax has leveled off or declined in many Cities and this has been true of many Cities in Texas.
Some other reasons that Cities’ revenues have been decreasing has been that people are putting ever more money into savings as opposed to spending it on taxable items. This coupled with the aging of the population who are less likely to be making purchases and Cities putting more into their various pension plans, revenue stagnation may be a phenomenon that may be with us for awhile.
Here in Galveston our City seems to be bucking these trends. Sales tax is still continuing to rise and financial liabilities that were left unattended for so many years have now been addressed.
The Budget for this year includes funding the pension plans to bring them into acceptable ranges, addressing rising Health Insurance costs and closing out the CDM law suit.
All of these measures were done, while at the same time, maintaining an operating budget that supports a continuing effort to improve the quality of life for all our residents.
Yes, Galveston’s Financial Health is doing well and it is more important than ever to spend wisely, maintain adequate reserves, and remember that with improvements comes the need to fund the future maintenance of these projects.
Wishing you a Prosperous and Productive New Year !
Craig and Angela
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