Georgetown Property Tax Hike?

Is there a property tax hike looming in Georgetown's near future? Check out this slide to be presented to the City Council in the budget workshop tomorrow, July, 17, 2018.

It looks like the staff is saying that the debt payments are more than the city operations budget and that is "bad" policy. It would be helpful if there were proof offered that when debt and operations costs are about equal, that is a sign of "good" fiscal health.

The debt payments will be increasing as previously voter approved bonds are sold to fund several capital improvements. What is not mentioned is the significant number of Certificates of Obligations, non-voter approved, that are planned.

This is potentially happening at a time when the property tax revenue is increasing at a 8.42% annual rate and the sales tax revenue is increasing at a 7.76% annual rate as shown in the following charts.

At the same time, according to City published population numbers, the population is growing at a 3.56% annual rate over the last 10 years.

It would seem that the city has ample revenue to fund ongoing operations without resorting to debt.

For instance, in the 2018 Budget, $35.2M in bond proceeds were to be used to operate the City, of which $8.75M, or 25%, were Certificates of Obligation.

The City needs to reexamine its debt in comparison to population growth and needs before they impose more debt on the taxpayers of Georgetown.