"The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades." Like the 80's song by Timbuk3, I was in a good mood today.
 
Last year during budget discussions, we dealt with a $5 million revenue shortfall. It got worse this year when we were $7 million further challenged. Next year's best guess, according to Bryan Bradford, director of budget and research, at last night's special work session, we'll be $5 million deeper. Things are tough and they're tough all over.
 
After an extended period of basically the best electric rates in the area, we're now among the highest . Our rates haven't changed since 2006 but other providers have. We can't drop right now. To compound the problem, more and more groups are looking at GP&L as their personal resource. If anything, rates will have to increase and worsen an already bad situation.
 

To get past the budget concerns this year, some fees will have to be increased, water and trash rates are to rise some, city taxes collected through Atmos look to rise, and even then, employees look to have their pay reduced. To cover the city's debt payments, our city tax rate would have to increase a half cent, to over 70¢ per $100 valuation. That would push us even higher on the scale of highest-taxed cities in the Metroplex. Most cities are not increasing their tax rate this year.
 
How could it be worse? Look at our base property values compared to other area cities: near the bottom.
 
As football coaches used to say (and may still), "When the going gets tough, the tough get going."
 
The opportunity we have right now is to not get further bloated with debt, to hold taxes and utility rates so they don't keep rising, to look at this period as a time to prepare for the future. When the economy lightens, we should be standing at the gates and be the first out.
 
To do that, we need to shed the regulatory environment that made doing business in Garland hard, we need to give neighborhoods a chance to grow and accumulate value, we need new ways of looking at ourselves and our potential. We need to again capture the community spirit and can-do attitude that defined Garland for decades, when we were an important town on the Bankhead Highway, when we built our own power company rather than pay exorbitant rates to others, but we somehow lost when we started to become a bedroom community. Just like the state champion football and other sports teams Garland has produced, it's time to get tough.
 
The great news is that we are doing that!
 
Garland has been working through a comprehensive plan process and redrafting many of our development codes. A number of community meetings and meetings with stakeholders have been conducted as part of the Envision Garland effort. Council has received two work session briefings to learn more and additional training is scheduled.
 
Much work has yet to be done but Planning Dept staff gave an update today to the Garland Economic Development Partnership Steering Committee, the economic development collaboration between the city, school district, and Chamber of Commerce. It lifted my spirits and cooled my attitude.
 

We're looking at a single master plan for the city; identifying our community vision; setting policies to guide planning, policy development, and decision-making; and to produce a guiding document for city departments and other organizations. The process involves market assessments and identifying our demographic image. We are taking close looks at our residential, retail, office, and industrial market.
 
Here are some preliminary conclusions:

• Good densities in central Garland and solid demographics across the city
• The extension of SH-190 to I-30 improves connectivity
• DART rail stations align with the new development Downtown
• The historic "bones" and street grid downtown provides the framework for new development programs
• The increasing cultural diversity is an asset that can be leveraged and celebrated

Our response to the market is being developed:

• Increased focus on infill/redevelopment; expanded efforts to attract new development
• Significant changes to prevailing development patterns is needed
• Aggressive competitive differentiation that sets us apart
• The highest utilization of developable land
• Significant public sector collaboration and investment

To succeed, it is important that we:

• Focus limited resources on targeted investments
• Identify areas where the city can promote growth
• Keep our feet on the ground; that our efforts are grounded in market and economic reality
• Focus efforts in "catalyst" areas that provide a "ripple" economic benefit

We can be a catalyst, we can be a collaborator, and we can be a partner but our strength will come from our citizens and future citizens. We need to be tough enough to make the right decisions and smart enough to get out of the way.
 
The presentation can be downloaded here .