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 …
ARPA
Category: Smart Spending
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
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 …
Naaman School Rd Traffic
The Problem People want to get from Brand & Naaman school road to the other side of highway 78. To accomplish that, we provide one lane, a long light and a railroad track. This causes backups from 78 all the Read More …
The Case for Zero-Base
“Smart spending” is easier said than done. Budgeting and spending evolve over time, and the world has found a way to make both processes easier and more effective. It’s time for Garland to catch up and implement Zero-Based Budgeting. Garland Read More …