Issue #22

August 1, 2025

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Municipal Math: Smithville's Debt

At last week’s budget workshop the city council directed the city manager to look into a $3 million tax note to fund capital items which would free up money in the budget for potential 3% raises for city employees and up to $250K for an economic development professional.

This move would also potentially allow the proposed cuts presented in the first preliminary budget to be put back in.

No matter what happens, Smithville will start the new fiscal year on Oct. 1 with at least $7.8 million in debt.

So we decided to take a deep dive into Smithville’s debt asking:
​How did we get here?
What is all the debt paying for?
Should we borrow more?​
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Municipal Math: Breaking Down Smithville’s Debt

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Debt Analysis

While digging through the debt data, our publisher noticed something interesting: the rapid surge in property values from 2020-2022 had an impact on key metrics used to help calculate a municipality’s borrowing ability.

Read all the details in our first analysis article: How Smithville's Post-COVID Property Value Surge Masks Debt Vulnerabilities

Smithville Texas News Analysis

Editor’s note: following the publication of this article this afternoon, the city challenged the population data provided in the article. We used this dataset which sources debt and population data from the Bond Review Board, which pulls from the appraisal district. We reached out to BRB to clarify where they got their population data and if it was used to calculate the ratios, but did not hear back by press time. We will update the article when we have clarification.

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Home Lost to Fire

On Tuesday around noon a house caught fire at the corner of Harris and SE 2nd. Luckily the occupant made it out without injury, but the home was a total loss.

Thanks to our volunteer fire fighters and to Heart of The Pines for assisting in the blaze and keeping the fire contained to one structure.

After seeing the pictures on Facebook, we had a reader ask about funding for radios for the fire department, which were discussed at last week’s budget hearing.

The reader wanted to know if some of the remaining $846K from the 2023 tax note could be used to fund this emergency need. We emailed the council and city manager and were told they are applying for a grant.

There should be more discussion on the topic at the next budget workshop, which is Aug. 20 at 5pm in council chambers.

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Sales Tax vs Property Tax

If you’re new to this newsletter we wanted to share our first Municipal Math story from mid-March. This one compared the revenue generated from property tax vs sales tax.

Some of the data is outdated now (the Enclave is expected to be 117 homes, and the addition of the PID will likely drive the price of a home past $350K), but it was a good exercise to show what kind of revenue impact the two types of economic development can bring.

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Join the Team

As the page turns to August, that can only mean one thing in Texas: football season is almost here! Our Tigers have their first scrimmage at home on Aug. 16, with the regular season home opener against Rockdale on Aug. 29.

If you are a student and would like to help film the games or be on the sidelines as a manager, contact Athletic Director Layne Neumann lneumann@smithvilleisd.org.

Go Tigers!

*Note, this is not filming or working with Smithville Texas News

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From the Publisher

I Need A Miracle Third Day PREVIEW   ​

Well Smithville, we made it one more month. I’d like to thank the seven people who chose to support the free press and become members, as well as those who donated individually!

For July I dedicated myself to consistently producing high-quality content, and I feel like I met that goal:

• I discovered who the Fourth of July Flag Fairies are, and took you behind the scenes of the fireworks show
• I broke a little news about funding for a new pedestrian bridge to link Riverbend Park to the city
• I showed you the filming of the Crayola commercial on Mainstreet (and later learned that production company is refusing to come back)
• I explained some of Smithville’s Ethics Policy to you
• I recapped July’s city council meeting, which featured a lot of love
• I went to July’s school board meeting, where they voted on a new cell phone policy​
• And at that same meeting I watched Director of Food Services Candy Biehle make one of the toughest budget decisions I’ve witnessed
• I sat through a marathon 6.5 hour city council budget workshop (giving myself a little whiplash in the process)
• This week I dove DEEP into Smithville's debt for another Municipal Math story
• And after noticing a unique trend from the property tax surge, I created our first analysis piece​

As we turn the page to August, I see a lot on the calendar:

-Aug 5: P&Z: the land for the industrial park will be replatted to get the ball rolling on Tractor Supply coming out near the airport

-Aug 11: City Council: information about the tax note will be presented, and who knows what else will show up on the agenda

-Aug 13: first day of school

-Aug 18: school board meeting: they are still working through their budget process (and remember, 49% of your property tax bill is for SISD)

-Aug 20: Council budget workshop #3; the budget must be passed by Aug 31

-Aug 29: Friday Night Lights! Football home opener against Rockdale

-The city is asking for help getting the word out about the comprehensive plan (which is a big deal as it will determine what Smithville looks like as we grow)

We even had Austin Water reach out and want to place ads for two weeks! Ad revenue in the newsletter will bring in $100/month.

I would love to cover those stories, plus whatever else I uncover, but seven memberships ($1,050) and $100 in ad revenue is not enough to fund the company for August. Without funding, these stories will not be written.

I need $3,000/month, to keep the doors open. If you would like to see the free press continue to operate in Smithville, please consider purchasing a membership or making a one-time donation.

Become A Founding Member!

Make a One-Time Donation

Have a great weekend Smithville,

~K
Kristen Meriwether
Publisher, Smithville Texas News

Kristen@smithvilleTexasNews.com

Follow us on X @NewsSmithville​