Taxes Set To Rise In the City of Lubbock After Contentious Debate Over The Budget

Lubbock homeowners should be prepared to pay more in taxes after actions taken by the Lubbock City Council on Tuesday. Despite Mayor Mark McBrayer's attempt to cut more money from the budget, the council appears prepared to move forward with a tax increase for citizens inside the City of Lubbock.

Lubbock City Council Members Debate the Budget

According to a report from KAMC, tensions were high on Tuesday as the Lubbock City Council debated the new budget. Lubbock Mayor Mark McBrayer had proposed an amendment that would have cut nearly a million dollars from the budget. During debate on the budget the Mayor said he didn't believe that the proposed budget reflected "a serious effort to keep taxes as low as possible". They Mayor commented that the council only cut roughly $15,000 from a proposed budget that totals over $316 million dollars.

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Lubbock City Councilwoman, Dr. Jennifer Wilson, opposed further budget cuts and warned that further cuts could negatively "affect public servants" according to KAMC. Lubbock City Councilwoman Christy Martinez-Garcia spoke out against the Mayor's attempted cut to the Junior Ambassador program which costs the city roughly $15,000. According to the Mayor, the program is set to cost the City of Lubbock $30,000 and that is for students in Japan to come to Lubbock. The Mayor wanted to replace the program that sends select kids to Japan to visit Lubbock's sister-city and replace it with one more local. According to KAMC, Martinez-Garcia said that doing away with the program would limit kids.

“We’ve had a very long standing relationship with the sister city and Musashino City, Japan, a great opportunity for kids to build skills that go beyond the city limits. Why do we want to keep limiting kids to just what happens here? I think that small town thinking we need to think big for our kids and give them worldly opportunities.”

McBrayer Attempted Another Amendment Cutting Less

The Mayor offered a second, slimmed-down amendment, cutting just $670,000 from the budget, but that was rejected on a 4-3 vote as well. The only council members voting in favor of the Mayor's amendment was the Mayor and Council members Glasheen and Rose.

Tax Increase Set for Lubbock Homeowners

The Lubbock City Council voted for a higher tax rate and tax increase during Tuesday's meeting. It was reported that the average homeowner will pay an additional $15. That vote passed 5-2 with Council member David Glasheen and Mayor McBrayer voting against.

You can watch the full debate over the budget here.