Randall Lloyd

Experience: lives and works in Kyle Top priorities: shifting the tax burden away from homeowners, improving the city’s transportation network

Why are you running?

I am running for City Council Place 3 because the citizens—the taxpayers—of Kyle have lost their voice on the City Council. From what I hear from people, the needs and wants of the taxpayers of Kyle are not being met, and I feel that I can help bridge that gap.

What is the biggest challenge facing the city?

The biggest challenge facing the city is intelligently balancing our growth. We must be able to sustain the cost of growth, such as building roads and providing water and wastewater, without continually raising taxes. If we emphasize building subdivisions without attracting businesses as well, the tax burden is placed too heavily on our homeowners. If the businesses we attract only offer low-paying, minimum-wage jobs, our citizens will not be able to live and work in Kyle. We must attract businesses that pay livable wages for our citizens. The tax burden must be shared by everyone.

Why do you feel you would make a good City Council member? 

I will make a good City Council member because I both work and live within the city of Kyle. In my line of work I come in direct contact with the citizens of Kyle every day. I hear what concerns them, as well as what they like about our town and what they would like to see happen next. I will work to lower our tax rate, which is a major issue that everyone discusses. And our tax rate affects all the other major issues we are facing: roads, expanding our water and wastewater, and economic development. Unlike my opponent, what I lack in experience, I make up in work ethic.

What specifically can City Council do to attract more employers and commercial property tax payers to ease residents' tax burden?

We must promote our visibility on the fastest-growing segment of I-35. Let’s be honest. Many people, even in Austin, don’t even know where Kyle is located. We need to establish an identity for our town. Secondly, incentives given to developments in the past have been very costly to our taxpayers over the last decade. We need to tie incentives to living wages and other means (waive fees) that will benefit both the businesses and the community at large. Last, everyone complains about doing business in Austin and San Marcos because of the “red tape.” Kyle is becoming like that too. We need to work to streamline the process to welcome new development.

**Kyle City Council District 3 incumbent candidate Shane Arabie did not respond to Community Impact Newspaper’s candidate Q&A request.