I've said it before, but I'm going to say it again. These proposed tax increases seem small, but they are not in context. Almost a fifth of the residents of Lafayette are 60 years old or older. Many of them are on fixed incomes, Both property taxes and sales taxes are regressive -- particularly so for families on fixed incomes. That needs to be considered when looking at the last five years:
- inflation over the last five years in a cumulative 20%
- Water rates have gone up 20% in two consecutive years
Neither of those are going to go down, and they are meaningful numbers. Now we want to add a few hundred dollars to everyone's tax bill. The City Council is not being transparent here. By neglecting to put the increases in the context of past cost of living increases, it seems to be a conscious effort to mask the potential impact.
The service center patently needs to be expanded. The Rec Center aquatic facilities need to be fixed. I have been and remain opposed to a fancy new City Hall in the face of likely cuts in Federal grants and the (obvious to me) energy inefficient design of the new city hall with its two-story atrium that the Lafayette taxpayers will pay to heat and cool.
I use the Rec Center, but it is in competition with commercial facilities throughout the city and with the YMCA. Why is government competing with the private sector? Maybe Lafayette should open a grocery store (like the Mayor of Chicago wants to do for Chicago). Is that really different?
Repairs to city owned property should be planned for in our annual budgets not left to the "OMG, the XXX needs to be repaired. We have to raise taxes." That is poor planning. I grew up with and firmly believe in Proper Prior Planning Prevents P Poor Performance.
Finally, I have never seen a temporary tax increase that really went away. The City Council will find new shiny things to spend the money on after bonds are paid off. Guaranteed.
I fall into the group you describe. I look at the property tax increase in terms of what other expenses people have that they can't eliminate, like heat, electricity, and water. I will be paying for this increase for the rest of my life. If I make it 20 more years. 🤣 I can't buy less, or find a way to absorb it. I know I am far from the only person in that situation in Lafayette. That $150-$200 increase could pay for a couple of months of power, water, etc. People can't avoid paying their property tax, nor can they go without utilities. Where does that money come from for them? This has a direct impact on the people on the lower end of the economic scale, the people the city says it wants to keep in town.
Karen, I'd bet both the ranch and the cows that there are a significant number of people living in Lafayette who are in exactly the same position. Further, almost no one in that position can afford to move.
We elect officials to exercise good leadership and management. Taking the simple route of increasing taxes doesn't fall into either of those categories.
And, it isn't only the folks on fixed incomes, it's the next generation looking to live in Lafayette and start a family. Housing prices are double the national median, interest rates are higher than we've seen in ages and not looking to become low in the foreseeable future, and these kinds of things simply make living in Lafayette less and less attractive.
As always, thanks for your detailed summaries. I find it very interesting that the “undecided” in both groups increased after they were ‘informed’. As already discussed here, raises more concerns and questions.
The Council is in a tough place. In my experience maintenance doesn’t make it into most budgets (BVSD is an example). When things get bad they go to the voters to get a bond. It’s hard to budget for maintenance and I wish they would start doing that. Tough choices all around.
I think I heard a comment from a staff member along the lines of them planning to do that going forward. I should ask if there are any solid plans to make changes to how this is done. The 2025 budget planning begins in May, and at the workshop tomorrow, we can see a financial update before they really start to focus, publicly, on that topic.
Guy and Karen, I agree with both of your comments. It's an extremely tough situation for our current Council. It's a sad situation that the previous Councils did not properly anticipate or plan for these capital improvement projects. Maybe they didn't have the expertise or staff to keep an eye on it. I don't know. But,the City is stuck with these issues now. I don't have the funding answer. However, I wholeheartedly think the City should take the new City Hall project off the table for now. The #1 priority is a new Service Center and #2 improvements to the BBRC maybe not as grandiose as proposed.
I agree about the priorities, the Service Center is a disaster and needs help asap. I don't use the rec center but the issues there need to be addressed. It's not time to build a new City Hall.
Thanks Karen (and Ron!), for always being on top of Lafayette Council matters and sharing the knowledge!
I did hear at one of the public education session informally from City staff that the City Hall project is uniformly unpopular with almost everyone because no one sees a huge need for it, nor do residents see much benefit to it for them. So I sure hope the Council gets that message loud and clear. Tackling two $34M projects, one of which seems unnecessary, seems very unwise at this time for all these reasons and more.
We're the "informed" voters also informed that Lafayette has one of the highest sales tax in the region and adding to it would not only cost them individually but also have a negative effect on business sales there by lowering the taxes received by the city (which impacts the budget)?
I've said it before, but I'm going to say it again. These proposed tax increases seem small, but they are not in context. Almost a fifth of the residents of Lafayette are 60 years old or older. Many of them are on fixed incomes, Both property taxes and sales taxes are regressive -- particularly so for families on fixed incomes. That needs to be considered when looking at the last five years:
- inflation over the last five years in a cumulative 20%
- Water rates have gone up 20% in two consecutive years
Neither of those are going to go down, and they are meaningful numbers. Now we want to add a few hundred dollars to everyone's tax bill. The City Council is not being transparent here. By neglecting to put the increases in the context of past cost of living increases, it seems to be a conscious effort to mask the potential impact.
The service center patently needs to be expanded. The Rec Center aquatic facilities need to be fixed. I have been and remain opposed to a fancy new City Hall in the face of likely cuts in Federal grants and the (obvious to me) energy inefficient design of the new city hall with its two-story atrium that the Lafayette taxpayers will pay to heat and cool.
I use the Rec Center, but it is in competition with commercial facilities throughout the city and with the YMCA. Why is government competing with the private sector? Maybe Lafayette should open a grocery store (like the Mayor of Chicago wants to do for Chicago). Is that really different?
Repairs to city owned property should be planned for in our annual budgets not left to the "OMG, the XXX needs to be repaired. We have to raise taxes." That is poor planning. I grew up with and firmly believe in Proper Prior Planning Prevents P Poor Performance.
Finally, I have never seen a temporary tax increase that really went away. The City Council will find new shiny things to spend the money on after bonds are paid off. Guaranteed.
I fall into the group you describe. I look at the property tax increase in terms of what other expenses people have that they can't eliminate, like heat, electricity, and water. I will be paying for this increase for the rest of my life. If I make it 20 more years. 🤣 I can't buy less, or find a way to absorb it. I know I am far from the only person in that situation in Lafayette. That $150-$200 increase could pay for a couple of months of power, water, etc. People can't avoid paying their property tax, nor can they go without utilities. Where does that money come from for them? This has a direct impact on the people on the lower end of the economic scale, the people the city says it wants to keep in town.
Karen, I'd bet both the ranch and the cows that there are a significant number of people living in Lafayette who are in exactly the same position. Further, almost no one in that position can afford to move.
We elect officials to exercise good leadership and management. Taking the simple route of increasing taxes doesn't fall into either of those categories.
And, it isn't only the folks on fixed incomes, it's the next generation looking to live in Lafayette and start a family. Housing prices are double the national median, interest rates are higher than we've seen in ages and not looking to become low in the foreseeable future, and these kinds of things simply make living in Lafayette less and less attractive.
We'll see where the council lands on Tuesday. Will they still go for all three projects or scale it back?
As always, thanks for your detailed summaries. I find it very interesting that the “undecided” in both groups increased after they were ‘informed’. As already discussed here, raises more concerns and questions.
The Council is in a tough place. In my experience maintenance doesn’t make it into most budgets (BVSD is an example). When things get bad they go to the voters to get a bond. It’s hard to budget for maintenance and I wish they would start doing that. Tough choices all around.
I think I heard a comment from a staff member along the lines of them planning to do that going forward. I should ask if there are any solid plans to make changes to how this is done. The 2025 budget planning begins in May, and at the workshop tomorrow, we can see a financial update before they really start to focus, publicly, on that topic.
Guy and Karen, I agree with both of your comments. It's an extremely tough situation for our current Council. It's a sad situation that the previous Councils did not properly anticipate or plan for these capital improvement projects. Maybe they didn't have the expertise or staff to keep an eye on it. I don't know. But,the City is stuck with these issues now. I don't have the funding answer. However, I wholeheartedly think the City should take the new City Hall project off the table for now. The #1 priority is a new Service Center and #2 improvements to the BBRC maybe not as grandiose as proposed.
I agree about the priorities, the Service Center is a disaster and needs help asap. I don't use the rec center but the issues there need to be addressed. It's not time to build a new City Hall.
Thanks Karen (and Ron!), for always being on top of Lafayette Council matters and sharing the knowledge!
I did hear at one of the public education session informally from City staff that the City Hall project is uniformly unpopular with almost everyone because no one sees a huge need for it, nor do residents see much benefit to it for them. So I sure hope the Council gets that message loud and clear. Tackling two $34M projects, one of which seems unnecessary, seems very unwise at this time for all these reasons and more.
Thanks for sharing that insight, Kendall!
We're the "informed" voters also informed that Lafayette has one of the highest sales tax in the region and adding to it would not only cost them individually but also have a negative effect on business sales there by lowering the taxes received by the city (which impacts the budget)?
Good question. I was not polled so I don't know. But a sales tax increase seems to be off the table now.