Norma Owen

My "why" is helping stabilize Lago Vista and prepare us for what comes next.

That comes in part from my experience before I ever sat on Council. I've worked with communities going through some of the same pressures we're experiencing now, and I saw what can happen when cities don't look far enough ahead. Difficult choices get harder. Services can be reduced. Taxes can rise substantially just to keep up. And the longer you wait, the fewer choices you have.

I want Lago Vista to have choices.

We're far from the difficult outcomes I've seen elsewhere, but we are at an important point. We've grown quickly without the commercial tax base many growing cities have to help carry the load. We're repairing aging infrastructure while planning for much larger projects. We're working to get our financial information current, and residents are understandably concerned about changes in staff and City leadership.

You'll see in my other answers that I talk about infrastructure, financial planning and better information for our residents. All of that comes back to something pretty simple about how I approach this job: I tend to look around the corner.

Right now, some of what is around that corner is already here. So looking ahead isn't about predicting the next problem. It's about dealing with what needs attention today while putting the pieces in place so we're not solving the same problems five years from now.

It's also why I think about stability differently.

People will change. Good information, sound processes, institutional knowledge and a credible long-range plan should remain.

I don't have to be the engineer in the room, and I shouldn't pretend to be. My responsibility is to make sure we have the right engineer, the right financial information, our staff's knowledge and outside expertise when we need it. Then I need to ask questions, challenge assumptions and understand what today's decision means five, ten and twenty years from now.

And through all of this, we have to protect the basics our residents depend on, police, streets, parks, our library and the everyday services people expect their City to provide.

For me, stabilizing Lago Vista means getting through the challenges in front of us while building a City that doesn't depend on any one person sitting in any one chair. It means leaving behind the information, planning and systems that help the people who come after us make good decisions too.

That's my why.

Norma Owen

Five years from now, I think Lago Vista will still be in the middle of one of the biggest transitions in our history.

The realistic side of me knows much of that work will be water and wastewater. We have aging infrastructure and significant projects ahead of us. Our master plans give us a roadmap, but simply taking every project on that list and figuring out how to send the bill to our residents isn't a financial plan. We have to determine what we truly need, when we need it, what newer technologies may change those needs, and then aggressively pursue grants, low-interest financing and other opportunities to make those projects affordable.

My hope is that five years from now we can look back and say we did that well, that our water and wastewater systems are well on their way to exceptional working order, we're using newer technologies where they make sense, and we have a credible long-term funding plan that our residents can actually afford.

But that's only the foundation. What I'm really excited about is what life in Lago Vista could look like on top of it.

I can imagine opening our City's financial and community dashboard and seeing, in plain language, how Lago Vista is doing, our finances, infrastructure projects and community priorities, and residents being able to offer ideas and participate along the way.

I can imagine our residents and community organizations having come together to bring the potential of our new Economic Development Corporation to life. Through partnerships, private investment and thoughtful public investment, maybe our quaint, very local Dawn Drive has become an even stronger hometown destination and a vibrant, walkable Bronco Lane is ready to break ground. Those are visions today, not promises, but they're examples of what becomes possible when we plan together and use the tools we now have. The energy and spark coming from the members of our EDC, along with community members, have amazing projects in the works already. Now we just need to give those projects a chance. Our city will be amazed.

And through all of that, I still want Lago Vista to feel like Lago Vista.

I see our library bustling with children and families, softball tournaments happening at an expanded Sunset Park, and neighbors still knowing, and helping, their neighbors. I see our arts community thriving, with groups like the Hill Country Singers, Lago Vista Players and our local artists becoming an even bigger part of our community identity and something visitors come here to experience. I see our Fourth of July celebration and the Regatta better than ever, bringing residents and visitors together and supporting our local businesses at the same time.

Those things matter. A city's success isn't measured only by its balance sheet, miles of pipe or number of building permits. It's also measured by whether people enjoy living there, whether families want to stay, whether local businesses can thrive, and whether we've held onto the sense of community that made people choose Lago Vista in the first place.

Technology will change. Transportation will change. Lago Vista will change with it. My vision isn't to stop that change. It's to look far enough ahead that we can shape what comes next, protecting what we love about Lago Vista while building a city that works even better for the people who call it home.

Norma Owen

I love to hear out-of-the-box suggestions and appreciate the thinking behind the question. Unfortunately, there isn't another penny of sales tax available for Council to add. Texas caps the combined sales tax at 8.25%. The State receives 6.25%, Lago Vista receives 1%, and CapMetro receives 1%. We are already at the maximum.

But I don't think the conversation should end there. We should keep looking for ways to make the tax dollars we already collect from property tax, sales tax, and fees work harder. That is why I spent considerable time working on the nuts and bolts of our financial system this year. As part of the finance subcommittee, Mayor Saum, Councilor Paul Prince and I examined our chart of accounts, budgeting software, and public financial reporting. As long as we are using a product developed in 2003, our ability to analyze and find those precious pennies will continue to be extremely difficult. The finance subcommittee did the heavy lifting this year to ensure the prework was done in collaboration with Texas State University Institute for Government Innovation to turn our finance data around. (Thank you Mayor Saum for finding them!) That work included reorganizing and crosswalking the accounts so our financial data can work with modern budgeting and reporting tools like OpenGov and a more modern financial system to update our financial system. This next fiscal year, we expect that work to be executed into more modern systems.

And I have advocated separating our long-range capital planning into three understandable pieces: predictable replacement of aging equipment and facilities, unplanned repairs, and future expansion projects. I have also advocated looking at our major infrastructure needs over a 20-year horizon so Council can understand future bonding and cash-flow requirements before those bills arrive. Planning ahead can save pennies in interest rates with the right information.

The next step is just as important: put understandable financial information in residents' hands. Our financial data should ultimately feed a public-facing tool where residents can see where the City stands, how money is being spent, what major projects are coming and how we expect to pay for them. There is quite the conversation on Social Media about what the City or Council should do in broad general statements to save money and keep taxes low. It's when our residents can see each expenditure and give feedback and ideas on how we can do better in specific ways that real savings and innovation can happen.

For every major capital project, I want Council and residents to see the full financial picture: construction cost, financing, annual debt payments, operating costs, available grants or low-interest financing, expected impact on utility rates or taxes, and the cost and risk of delaying the project. This is a lofty goal, but attainable with today's tools.

We cannot create another sales-tax penny. We CAN keep looking for better ways to use the dollars we already have, pursue grants and favorable financing, grow our local sales-tax base, and plan far enough ahead that tomorrow's infrastructure needs don't continually become today's financial emergencies, which is part of what is eating any extra pennies we can find today.

Norma Owen

I don't see supporting local businesses and protecting taxpayers as competing goals. If we do it well, they should support each other.

For a long time, Lago Vista hasn't had the commercial tax base that many communities rely on to help pay for City services. That leaves our homeowners carrying a significant part of the load. Growing a healthy local economy gives us another way to strengthen the City's revenue base without simply looking to property owners every time we need more revenue.

But I don't think that means the City should just spend taxpayer dollars trying to pick businesses or solve every economic-development problem itself.

We now have a Type B Economic Development Corporation, and I see a real opportunity in bringing the strengths of the EDC, Chamber, City and our other community organizations together. They each have different roles, different tools and different people at the table. Let's use them.

The Chamber can advocate for and support our existing businesses. The EDC can focus on economic-development opportunities and rally the community for quality-of-life investments that meet its statutory purpose. The City can make sure our infrastructure, permitting, planning, and policies don't unnecessarily stand in the way of good investment. And all of us can do a better job of telling people what Lago Vista has to offer. Our challenge to meet today is finding a way to shore up these vital organizations in a way that pays off for our businesses and taxpayers.

I also want us looking for partnerships and outside investment rather than assuming taxpayers have to pay for every good idea.

There is untapped potential here. We have the lake, our airport, tourism and recreation, local entrepreneurs and some very talented people in this community. I would like to see us nurture businesses that start here while also being thoughtful about the businesses and investment we attract.

And when people come to Lago Vista for a softball tournament, the regatta, an arts performance, a lake weekend or one of our community events, I want them eating here, shopping here and supporting our local businesses while they're here... and then they can go home. :-)

I say that with a smile, but there is a point behind it. Many of our residents moved here because they love the small-town feel of Lago Vista. Economic development doesn't have to mean becoming another big suburb. We can invite people here, give them reasons to spend money with our businesses, and still be thoughtful about protecting the character of the community we call home.

Every additional dollar of taxable sales generated in Lago Vista helps broaden our revenue base. It doesn't magically eliminate property taxes, and I won't pretend that it does. But a stronger commercial economy means homeowners don't have to be the only place we look as we work to meet the needs of a growing city.

To me, that's how you do both: help our local businesses thrive, use the economic-development tools we now have wisely, bring outside dollars into Lago Vista when we can, and make sure taxpayers can see the value they're getting when public dollars are involved.

Norma Owen

Supporting local starts pretty simply for me: look here first.

If I need groceries, I shop here. If I'm looking for an outfit, I check Wild Navy. If I need flooring or a service for my home, I look for someone in Lago Vista first. Not everything we need is available here, but when it is, I want to give our local businesses the first opportunity to earn my business.

Those dollars matter. They help keep someone's doors open, employ our neighbors and keep more of our sales-tax dollars here at home.

But supporting local has to mean more than shopping local.

It means asking what our existing businesses need to succeed and creating an environment and ecosystem where good businesses can invest and grow.

Then there is the part that really interests me: what is the next local business that hasn't been created yet?

We have entrepreneurs working from their homes today who may become tomorrow's storefronts. We have young people in our schools who may someday build businesses here. We have an airport whose economic potential I don't think we've fully explored. And we have places like Dawn Drive, Bronco Lane and the 1431 corridor where thoughtful investment could create something that feels distinctly Lago Vista rather than simply copying the development we see everywhere else.

I'd love to see us become better at helping a good idea move from someone's kitchen table or garage, to its first customer, to a thriving Lago Vista business. I personally have met and talked to a few that have great promise. I'm excited for them and their future.

That's where the City, EDC, Chamber, schools and community organizations can accomplish more together than any one of them can accomplish alone.

Supporting local, to me, is really a cycle: buy here, help the businesses we have succeed, and create opportunities for the next generation of Lago Vista businesses to begin here too. That's how we build our local economy without losing what makes it local.

Norma Owen

I think David VonOhlerking and many of our residents have expressed what most of us would probably say first: if we're collecting money because trees are being removed, then in a perfect world we ought to be putting trees and greenery back.

I agree with that.

The challenge is a little more complicated once you get into actually doing it. We need appropriate places to plant, access to water to keep those plantings alive, and the staff or partners to maintain them. Planting a tree that dies a year later isn't good stewardship either.

Our current ordinance does restrict these funds. They can be used for planting trees or other greenery, as well as development or improvements to trails and pocket parks. The tree ordinance itself has also been under review, including discussion about the amount of the mitigation fee and how those dollars can be used.

My preference is to start with the reason the money was collected. Where we can responsibly replace trees and greenery and keep them alive, I think that should be our first look.

But I also think we need to ask a very basic question of every fee the City charges: Does the amount we're collecting still make sense, and can we reasonably use the money for the purpose we told people we were collecting it for?

If the answer is yes, let's have a plan and use it. My hope is that strategic planning at all levels becomes a norm in our city processes.

If we're collecting more than we can reasonably put to that purpose, then we should be willing to revisit the fee rather than allowing money to simply accumulate because that's what we've always charged.

There are also some opportunities here to think a little differently. Could we partner with Keep Lago Vista Beautiful or other community organizations? Could plantings be incorporated into trails, parks and other public improvements where irrigation already exists? Could we identify priority areas in advance so that when mitigation dollars come in, we already know where they can do the most good?

I don't think the answer should be "collect the money because we can," nor do I think the answer is automatically "stop collecting it."

Let's determine what we actually need, what the law and our ordinance allow, what we can realistically accomplish, and set the fee accordingly.

If we're going to charge someone a fee, we ought to be able to explain what it's for and show them what we're doing with it.

Norma Owen

Let's start with, "What are we trying to accomplish for Lago Vista?"

This has been a difficult year for both. The Chamber is working through how it sustains itself and serves our businesses, while the City is working through how public dollars can be used appropriately and documented. From the conversations I've had with Chamber leadership, I believe there is a genuine desire to make the relationship work. I share that desire.

Would I support simply giving the Chamber additional General Fund dollars to help cover its operations? No.

Would I consider using General Fund dollars to pay the Chamber for a clearly defined service that advances a strategic purpose for the City and that the Chamber is well positioned to provide? Yes, I would consider it.

Those are two very different things.

And I think the words strategic purpose matter.

We need to decide what Lago Vista actually wants to accomplish with economic development and tourism. We haven't done enough of that. Without a clear strategy, the City, Chamber and now our EDC are each trying to find their part without stepping on the others' toes.

I think the Chamber has the potential to be an important part of that picture. It knows our businesses, brings people together and can do things the City shouldn't necessarily be trying to do itself.

HOT funds should be used for eligible tourism purposes, with the results documented. The EDC should have room to do the economic-development work it was created to do. And if there is work the City needs beyond that, let's identify it, decide who is best equipped to do it and determine what it's worth.

If that's the Chamber, I'm open to that conversation.

Then define the work, choose the right partner, establish what we expect in return and use the right funding source.

I want our Chamber to succeed. I also have a responsibility to our taxpayers. With a clear strategy and clearly defined roles, I don't believe those two things have to be at odds with one another.

Norma Owen