East Texas

By ADAM RUSSELL
Staff Writer

BULLARD — City administrators believe increased tax revenues position Bullard for significant future growth as they enter the annual budget process.

City Accountant Randy Gorham said sales tax revenues alone have increased 20.6 percent from this time last year. Property tax revenues also increased, though not as sharply. Gorham expressed his excitement to the city council Tuesday night, telling the council members, city manager Larry Morgan and outgoing Mayor A.W. Hines that Bullard, as a town of its size, is in an enviable position for exponential growth in the coming decade.

“Things are looking good for Bullard,” Gorham told the council.

Gorham said, in a Friday interview with The Tyler Morning Telegraph, since he came on board two years ago the city has worked diligently to close the gap between revenues and paying the city’s debt service, including certificates of obligation on infrastructure projects. Gorham said prior to tax rate increases the past few years, Bullard was paying around $150,000 annually out of its general maintenance fund to pay the principal and interest on the city’s certificates of obligation alone. The projects covered by those debts include the water tower and expansion and improvements to the city’s sewage treatment system.

Gorham said closing that gap will help tremendously with funding future projects as Bullard makes further infrastructure improvements.

Morgan said recent growth in retail monies coming into the tax base have given the city a boost and that projected revenue created by additional commercial development will lessen the burden on citizens. Presently, however, Morgan said, the need to increase infrastructure and the lack of substantial retail tax revenues places the burden on homeowners. The city has seen retail growth and a growth in the number of rooftops, Morgan said, but still remains behind the curve when it comes to tax revenue coming in and the costs associated with adding needed infrastructure including roads, sewer and water. Bullard’s present financial status and the city’s dedication to expending every effort to garner outside funding through all possible avenues, including grants and a pending purchasing partnership with Smith County and other municipalities, has Morgan excited about the city’s future. The partnership with the county and other towns will allow Bullard to buy fuel and needed infrastructure materials at a reduced cost because of the consortium’s bulk purchasing power, he said. That type of partnership is unprecedented, he said.

At this point the city is using every means possible to stretch taxpayer dollars and cents to maximize the development of the city, Morgan said. Beyond budgeting for the next fiscal year city administrators and government plan to implement a master street and zoning plan for the city. Morgan said other cities that successfully transitioned from small towns to burgeoning municipalities such as Hutto, Round Rock, both near Austin, and Lindale are examples of preparedness and good city planning.

“This is a very exciting time for Bullard,” Morgan said. “The more improvements that we make, the more enticing it will be for businesses to move to Bullard.”