The record, and what's next
One problem connects almost everything Garland does. Here's what this term did about it, and what a second term will do.
Garland's revenue gap, and how we close it
Garland collects about $488 per resident in general fund tax revenue. The average across seven nearby suburban cities is $842. That's a gap of roughly $89 million a year, and it exists even though Garland's tax rate is above average.
The reason is the makeup of our tax base. Garland is heavily residential, so homeowners carry costs that stores, offices and other commercial property carry in neighboring cities. The fix is growth that adds commercial value, and that's what every section below is about.
- Richardson$1,068
- Plano$969
- Irving$960
- Area average$842
- Carrollton$822
- Mesquite$782
- Grand Prairie$685
- Arlington$610
- Garland$488
Property and sales tax revenue per resident. Source: City of Garland Citywide Town Hall presentation, August 13, 2026.
Approved by voters November 3, 2026
Proposition A: a lower tax rate and more public safety
Garland is paying down debt from past bond programs. As those bonds are paid off, about 4 cents of the tax rate that went to debt payments is freed up. Proposition A moved about 3 cents of that to day-to-day operations and dropped the other cent. On my Substack I called it the "Swap and Drop."
Think of it like paying off a car loan. Instead of spending the whole old payment, you put part of it toward bills that went up and keep the rest.
| City tax rate last year (2025–26) | $0.689746 |
| City tax rate approved by voters (2026–27) | $0.679900 |
| Change | −$0.009846 |
Rates per $100 of taxable value.
The longer trend matters more than one cent. Garland's city tax rate peaked at 76.96 cents in 2019–20. At 67.99 cents, it is now about 9 cents lower.
What it pays for this year
- 10 police officers and four vehicles
- 9 firefighters, plus firefighter overtime
- 8 911 dispatchers
- 3 animal services technicians
- Library materials and resources
- Parks maintenance, landscaping and parks security
- City festivals and events, including Juneteenth, Día de los Muertos, the Asian American Heritage Festival and Fall Fest
Why the ballot said "THIS IS A TAX INCREASE"
State law requires that wording whenever a city sets its operations rate above a state-calculated limit called the voter-approval rate. The rule looks only at the operations portion and doesn't count the debt portion going down. The total city tax rate still went down.
Will my bill go down? Not necessarily. A lower rate doesn't guarantee a lower bill, because the appraisal district, not the City, sets property values. The City is also only about 29% of a typical Garland property tax bill. What the City controls is the rate, and the rate went down.
New growth: H-E-B in the north, Joe V's in the south
H-E-B, north Garland
A full H-E-B on a 21-acre site between Crist Road and Firewheel Parkway along the President George Bush Turnpike, near Firewheel Town Center. Under the development agreement the City Council approved in May 2026, H-E-B will invest at least $17 million in the store.
Joe V's Smart Shop, south Garland
H-E-B's value-priced grocery store, on a property at Centerville Road and LBJ Freeway that has sat vacant for more than 20 years. The agreement calls for at least $7 million to redevelop it, which should help bring the surrounding shopping center back too.
One store in the north and one in the south matters. Every part of Garland deserves good grocery options, and every part of Garland benefits when new commercial property and sales tax revenue lighten the load on homeowners.
Plans for the next decade and beyond
Garland on the Rise, 2026–2036
The City Council adopted Garland on the Rise, Garland's ten-year Strategic Plan, in June 2026. It focuses on economic resilience through reinvestment in the places we already have, starting with Economic Focus Areas in Downtown and the Wedge near Saturn Road and Northwest Highway. The Council adopted a new Garland Housing Strategy alongside it, and the 2026–27 budget is the first one built around the plan's priorities.
Garland Forward 2050
Garland's current Comprehensive Plan, Envision Garland, dates to 2012. Garland Forward 2050 replaces it and will guide how Garland grows and redevelops for the next 25 years, with a focus on the long-term fiscal impact of development decisions. The draft came before the City Council on November 2, 2026, and the next step is review and adoption.
What a second term is for
Garland on the Rise is the umbrella. These are the things it has to deliver.
Finish the plans
Adopt Garland Forward 2050 and carry out Garland on the Rise, so zoning, budgets and capital projects all point the same direction.
Housing and neighborhoods
A ten-year housing strategy built on Downtown and the Wedge, with programs that help residents renovate and reinvest in the homes and blocks we already have.
Streets and infrastructure
Voters approved the 2025 Grow Garland Bond, which funded 200 street projects in its first year alone. The job now is to keep that pace and hold the City to its goal of raising the citywide street condition score to 77.
More retail and restaurants
H-E-B and Joe V's are the start. The next step is more of the shopping and dining residents now leave Garland to find, which is also how we keep closing the revenue gap.