In May of 2023, I reach my term limit for Council. I am planning one final Town Hall to wrap things up. I’ll have a prepared presentation, we’ll do Q&A, and I’ll open up the last 10-15 minutes of the Read More …
Town Hall March 8, 2023
Category: Smart Spending
Property Taxes – 2023
Yesterday I made the mistake of trying to drink a cup of coffee and read my new 2022 home value at the same time. After I finished choking and wiping the coffee off of my computer monitor, I started browsing Read More …
ARPA
ARPA is the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which was signed into law in March of 2021 by President Biden. One aspect of the law is funding for local governments for ‘lost revenue’. This is calculated by a series Read More …
Fall 2020 Updates
With the annual budget passed and a number of new initiatives in flight, I wanted to provide everyone with a general District 8 update. Unfortunately we still can’t hold a town hall meeting due to COVID-19, but I look forward Read More …
The Garland Day Labor Center (Closed)
The future funding of the Garland Day Labor Center is being debated by the Garland City Council as a part of our annual budget process. This blog post covers the history, operations, financing, and future of the facility from my Read More …
Re-Election Announcement!
Today I am formally announcing my re-election bid for Garland City Council District 8. The past two years have been a whirlwind of activity in Garland. We have made a strong commitment to our infrastructure and local economy. We are Read More …
Town Hall Meeting, April 26th, 2018
Edit: Town Hall Presentation 2018-04-26 (Powerpoint Presentation) Town Hall Presentation 2018-04-26 (PDF) There will be a Town Hall Meeting for District 8: April 26th, 2018 6pm – 8pm City Hall Council Chambers 200 N 5th St The format will be Read More …
Town Hall Meeting Nov 30th
Update: http://www.robertjsmithtx.com/presentations/townhall_agenda.pdf http://www.robertjsmithtx.com/presentations/townhall20171130.ppsx There will be a Town Hall Meeting for District 8: November 30th, 2017 6pm – 8pm City Hall Council Chambers 200 N 5th St The format will be a series of short presentations with plenty of time Read More …
Operations and Maintenance Budget 2017-2018
Overview The city has a fiscal year that starts on October 1st and ends on September 30th. Garland splits its budget into two parts- ops and maintenance (think salaries, office supplies, furniture, small equipment purchases, etc.) and CIP (buildings, large Read More …
Is it a Tax Increase?
Let’s say that a candy bar is $1 and your property taxes are $1000. If the tax rate stays the same, then years from now if the same candy bar costs $2 it would make sense for your taxes to Read More …