CEDAR HILLS — It only took a handful of residents to make Cedar Hills' City Council members squirm at the suggestion that the city's taxes are too high.
Two hours later, though, after lengthy discussion, a majority vote of the City Council boosted the taxes even higher.
Two council members, Joel Wright and Charelle Bowman, said they don't want to raise taxes while residents are paying off the city's $6 million golf course debt.
Councilmen Eric Richardson, Jim Perry and Gary Maxwell, however, said the costs of running Cedar Hills have skyrocketed, and a 15 percent increase in the city's property tax revenue is an urgent necessity. Perry said the cost of paying for police and fire services alone have increased more than the tax increase.
"I hate it," Perry said. "I hate it every hear that we have to raise taxes. ... Every year, these things that are beyond our control go up, and if we don't increase our revenue, we lose equity. We (would be) spending our savings away (if taxes weren't raised) ... because we want to feel good about the fact that we don't raise taxes. It's a bad strategy. It's like not saving for your retirement."
With the increase approved at Tuesday's City Council meeting and anticipated new growth calculations, the city will receive $1,087,101 in property tax revenue. Without the increase, the city would have received $944,843. The tax rate will result in an increase of $43.23 per year for a $300,000 home and $78.60 for a $300,000 business.
Members of the council repeatedly said the city would have a hard time cutting $142,000 from the city's budget, but at one point Bowman took a copy of the city's budget and started making suggestions to cut back on street lights and speed tables. Wright suggested the city not pay council members or give its employees a raise until the golf course debt is relieved as a means of saving money, but the idea was quickly rejected.
"My biggest challenge is, I look at the budget and it's hard to say, 'I think people should speed through this neighborhood, so I'm not going to approve a speed table,"' Maxwell said. "It's difficult to say, 'This is where we're going to cut, and this is why we're going to cut it."'
During the public comment period of the meeting, Maxwell, Perry and Mayor Mike McGee repeatedly pointed out that a significant portion of the city's property tax would fall away as soon as the city's $6 million golf course debt is relieved.
"We're working on decreasing the city portion of the tax bill for you," McGee told one resident who spoke against the tax raise. "It's 12 to 18 months away, but that's pretty good."
According to Perry, the city has one of the lowest tax rates in the county without the golf course bond. With the debt, the city has one of the highest rates — and it's causing residents some grief.
Shanna Wilkinson, who lives on a fixed income, trembled as she told the council that incremental increases in her taxes could someday push her out of her home.
"I don't get a raise in January or February that comes near to these increases," Wilkinson said. "I am almost 70, am I supposed to get a job at 70? You people will be there (on a fixed income) some day. ... I've worked hard my whole life. Someday you people will be there and you may not have Social Security."
Maxwell told Wilkinson that he would donate his City Council salary to her to help her pay for the increase.
"I can't do it for every resident in the city," Maxwell said. "But I feel strongly that if you're willing to stand up here and pound the pulpit then you deserve that. Show me what your increase is and you can take it out of my salary until it's paid off."
E-mail: achoate@desnews.com