Highland Village approves tax rate cut, public safety initiatives

Highland Village officials approved a tax rate decrease of 8.3%—from $0.546825 to $0.501394—for fiscal year 2023-24 at the September council meeting.

A closer look

Within the budget were the following financial details:

• A tax rate decrease of 8.3%
• A base budget of nearly $22.9 million
• A supplemental revenue amount of $484,018
• An 8.2% increase from last year's sales tax revenue
• A 4.5% salary adjustment for employees to “attract and retain qualified personnel,” per the city

Council also discussed a bevy of police and fire safety initiatives covered by the new budget, including replacing body armor; approving of hand guns with red-dot sights; and deploying what the city is calling “power shifts” for the fire department, which will improve “the ability to respond to overlapping calls and reduce mutual aid requests,” per city officials.

The city also noted a cost of $149,207 toward the shared fire department training facility, the key cog in an interlocal agreement with the town of Flower Mound and the city of Lewisville.

What else?

Nearly $700,000 was approved for engineering and surveying services for the Highland Shores Boulevard reconstruction project. City officials reported $695,000 has been earmarked for that area of the road from Twin Coves Drive to Briarhill Boulevard. Per the city, Denton County will fund up to 50% of construction costs, while Highland Village is on the hook for 100% of the design services.