Lakeway mayor: Looking back at budget, ahead to Halloween
The recent rain was a nice relief from the dry weather we’ve had the past several months. But we’re still not quite out of the woods with making up for the rain deficit. As you have noticed, we’ve seen increased water restrictions put in place by many of our water districts over the past several weeks. I encourage you to continue to follow their guidance. It’s important we continue to conserve where we can, especially until our lake fills back up.
It seems like we’re in a strange weather pattern lately with these excessively hot and dry summer days, only to be followed months later with extremely cold, icy conditions. This was a major consideration during our budget and tax rate discussion over the past several months, and a significant contributor to the final budget and necessary tax increase. We all understand a tax increase is not ideal, but we had to consider several variables during this most recent budgeting process. The first was the issue we had this past February with another ice storm that slammed Central Texas. It not only caused dangerous driving conditions and widespread power outages, but nearly everyone in our community had damaged trees and fallen tree limbs scattered across their property. The city of Lakeway decided to step in and offer curbside tree limb removal service for free for everyone. That process, coordinated by our emergency management staff member and public works team, took several weeks and ended up costing the city over $1.5 million in expenses not planned in our previous budget.
When breaking that down, staff calculated those costs equaled about $189 per property, which is significantly less than a private contractor typically charges for tree removal service. During an event like this, we also need to be concerned about scams taking place, so we didn’t want our residents to have that additional worry. Secondly, we needed to make sure we keep up our city reserves and have enough saved up in case of a similar emergency. Without enough savings, another emergency could cause issues with our required operations.
Finally, we wanted to make sure our staff are taken care of, and not only are being correctly compensated for, but also have quality insurance in place for them and their families. Staff salaries are by far the biggest expense in our operating budget, and for good reason. They are the folks you see taking care of our local roads, helping keep our right-of-ways and medians mowed and looking great, keeping our trees in good shape, maintaining our beautiful parks, hosting our many wonderful events and keeping our families safe. For us to maintain the level of quality our residents expect in Lakeway, we need to retain good, quality staff. I welcome you to review our recently passed budget, which is found on our website at lakeway-tx.gov. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to our Lakeway team at info@lakeway-tx.gov.
I mentioned events, and we do have some great ones coming up. Of course, the first thought that comes to mind when you hear October is typically Halloween. Our Lakeway Parks team has a few spook-filled events coming up in the next few weeks. The first will be the annual Lake Travis ISD orchestra performing the score to the 1922 vampire-style silent film “Nosferatu.” There’s also a vampire costume contest at that event, which will take place fittingly on Friday, Oct. 13, starting at 7 p.m. at the Activity Center.
Of course, a Halloween in Lakeway would not be complete without our annual Witches Ride, Roll and Stroll. This is a great event where families can dress up in their favorite costumes and parade down Lakeway Drive, tossing candy to onlookers. There will also be another fantastic wrap-up party at the Activity Center that evening. The event starts around 6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 21. I’d also like you to keep your eye out for a special flash mob that could pop up at any time during the event this year. If you’re interested in participating in that dance, our Parks team will host a free practice on Sunday, Oct. 15 from 2-3 p.m. at the Activity Center. We encourage you to sign up on our website if you’re interested in participating.
After you wrap up the flash mob dance practice that Sunday, Oct. 15, I invite you to come across the street to the Justice Complex around 4 p.m. as we do a ribbon cutting for the newly upgraded Hurst Creek Sculpture Garden. The upgrades include new walking paths that connect the Smith and Hamilton greenbelts, along with a new bridge over the creek. That location also includes many sculptures put in place by Lakeway’s Arts Committee. Following the ribbon cutting, we’ll also have a special concert by “Band of the Hills.”
A few more important events to consider include our Veterans Day Ceremony, which will take place at the Lake Travis Performing Arts Center on Veterans Day, which is on Saturday, Nov. 11. It will start at 11 a.m. I also encourage you to come out to Public Safety Day taking place Saturday, Oct. 28, in the parking lot of Lake Travis Elementary School, which is at RM 620 and Kollmeyer Drive. It’s a great chance to meet your police officers, along with other area agencies, and check out some of the specialized equipment they use to keep us safe. There will also be a place to drop off your old or unused prescription medications.
And a note about safety: please plan accordingly this Halloween season, and make sure your little trick-or-treaters are wearing costumes that will keep them protected from traveling vehicles. You’ll see some more messages soon on ways to stay safe for Halloween. We want you and your family to have a great and of course safe experience this upcoming holiday season.
Stay safe Lakeway! Remember to live our Lakeway values and have a great and Happy Halloween!
Tom Kilgore is the mayor of Lakeway.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Lakeway Mayor Kilgore: Looking back at budget, ahead to Halloween
