Mayor Judy Eychner: Here are the facts about Kerrville’s issues

As your Mayor, I want to address some statements that have appeared in print in recent advertisements in our community. The city has been accused of not being transparent on several specific items. I want to explain and give our citizens the CORRECT FACTS regarding these items. Our City staff is exceptionally professional, always transparent and truthful. I apologize to every City employee for the unprofessional and inaccurate accusations to which they have been subject.

1.  False Accusation: The city is $100 million dollars in debt and just added another 11 million.  That equates to nearly $11,000 for every household.  

Facts: Yes, the City of Kerrville has debt, and the current debt is $105 million.  

However, debt is not allocated by household! And stating that each household is responsible for $11,000 is patently untrue and an inflammatory accusation! Current debt is paid for by (1) water/utility revenues ($41 million), (2) EIC (not City) sales tax dollars ($9.7 million), and (3) bonds ($55 million).  

Our community has one of the lowest overall debt levels and lowest water/utility rates for any city of comparable size and age in the state of Texas. Kerrville carries an overall AA debt credit rating on property tax-supported debt and A+ on water revenue-supported debt. In the financial world these ratings are extremely important and reflect the outstanding quality of work by our City staff in managing the finances and operations of our city well.  

2.  False Accusation: The city has raised the total property taxes for 2023 by 20%.

Facts: From 2010-2022, the City of Kerrville’s assessed property tax rate has remained the same or been lowered. The 2023 budgeted property tax rate increased by 12.9% ONLY because of the voter-approved $45 million bond to finance the new Public Safety Facility.  

3.  False Accusation: The city has been cited every year for at least the last seven years for cancer-causing chemicals in the water.   

Facts: The City of Kerrville has not been cited every year for the last seven years for water quality violations. The last three regulatory tests performed by the State of Texas have shown the city’s drinking water system to be well below the regulatory amount of Trihalomethanes (TTHMS), due to the enhancements the City has made to the water system over many years. The City continues to work daily to provide our citizens with the safest and highest quality drinking water in the state.  

The city has, in previous years, been notified by the State of Texas for the treatment for TTHMs, which affect all municipalities using chlorine to disinfect surface (river and lake) water. The city has completed a number of projects to minimize local TTHM generation (see city Facebook post of April 17th, 2023) and has been very transparent about TTHMs.  Informational TTHM brochures have been provided to all water customers in their monthly water bills. The city carries a “Superior” water quality rating from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).    

4.  False Accusation: The obscene books in the library are still readily available to children without parental consent.

Facts: The City of Kerrville does not have any obscene books in its library as defined by state law. Books that have mature content are present in the library, but not in the children’s section (and never have been!). A parent must have a library card for a child to have a card. The library staff suggests that a parent be the sole library card holder so they can monitor what their child checks out. Libraries cannot assume the functions of parental responsibility in the choices of reading material for their children. Parents and/or guardians who do not want their children to access specific material should accompany or advise their child. Further, material that a parent finds objectionable may be reviewed by utilizing existing policies in place for the reconsideration of materials. 

5.  False Accusation: The city gave away $2 million dollars worth of city property to one of the nation’s largest homebuilders for free!

Facts: The City did not “give away” anything. One of the biggest issues identified by local citizens and businesses during the citizen-created Kerrville 2050 Comprehensive Plan was the need for affordable workforce housing. In 2021, the City entered into a public-private partnership agreement with Lennar Homes to build a single-family neighborhood of at least 125 homes on City-owned property along Loop 534 called “Ridgeland.” So long as those homes are sold at a certain price point that is affordable to families making the median area household family income for Kerr County, the City will forego charging Lennar for that land.  If Lennar does not sell enough homes in the agreed upon price range, Lennar will pay the city the appraised value of the land. In addition, when Lennar’s Ridgeland development is complete (home construction starts in April/May), it will add nearly $30 million of housing value to the local property tax rolls, generating an estimated $600,000 minimum in annual property tax receipts for the community. More importantly, this agreement will help bring much needed housing to the community for teachers, nurses, police officers, fire fighters, and many more.