Tyler City Government Managed Like Business
bob turner, business, government, pinkney butler, tax, tyler pounds regional airport,
Few towns in America can boast the kind of big-business approach to city government that Tyler practices on a daily basis.
It’s a no-nonsense professional approach that has resulted in low taxes‚ well-financed capital improvements‚ a unique pay-as-you-go philosophy – and a quality of life that newcomers find amazing and longtime residents almost take for granted.
The key to the city’s success lies in strict adherence to the Blueprint‚ a plan developed 10 years ago that sets the stage for all decision-making in city hall.
“In our business development‚ the concept of the Blueprint is the exact thing that has gotten the city into the position it is right now‚” says Bob Turner‚ a 25-year veteran of the city and city manager since 2003.
The Blueprint was the brainchild of Pinkney Butler‚ the former city manager who drafted the no-nonsense script for high-quality service delivery and no-debt growth. The first of the document’s eight points states simply: “Highest premium placed on responsiveness to citizens’ needs.” The Blueprint requires competitive pricing and deems the city manager as “business manager for the city’s new Blueprint for competitive services‚ productive staff and technologically correct processes.”
What the Blueprint has meant for Tyler citizens is a gradually descending property tax rate‚ from 53 cents in 1997 to 25 cents in 2006 without cutting services. In fact‚ Tyler enjoys the lowest property tax rate for all Texas cities with a population between 30‚000 and 1 million residents.
Thanks to a half-cent sales tax approved by citizens in 1995‚ municipal capital projects are constructed on a pay-as-you-go basis.
“We don’t issue debt. That’s one of the premises of the Blueprint and one of the premises that the mayor and council elected to do 10 years ago and one the current mayor and council continue to adhere to‚” Turner says.
Tyler Mayor Joey Seeber – now serving his third term – believes in the notion of running the city like a successful business.
“Over the past 10 years‚ we have executed our plan to pay cash for capital improvements‚ eliminate general obligation bond debt and reduce property taxes‚” he says.
“In that same period‚ we received more than $80 million in one-half cent sales tax revenue‚ enabling us to pay cash dollars for improvements such as reconstruction and improvements of major roadways‚ Faulkner Park and the Glass Recreation Center‚ as well as numerous other street‚ drainage and traffic projects.”
While drainage and road projects aren’t particularly sexy‚ Turner says Tyler is focusing on its master plans for both streets and drainage to enhance neighborhoods and improve traffic flow.
“Give us another couple of years and you’re going to see a major difference in the way traffic moves and how quickly you can move on the major arterials and the condition of the roadways‚” he says.
Story by Sharon H. Fitzgerald
