Southlake to increase homestead exemption

Homeowners in Southlake will see their homestead exemption increase next year, with more increases planned in the future.

In the city’s new budget for the Fiscal Year 2015-16, which City Council approved Sept. 15, the homestead exemption increases from 10 to 12 percent, and Council doesn’t plan to stop there.

“Our goal over the next three years is to continue increasing it, up to the 20 percent maximum,” Council member Shawn McCaskill said.

McCaskill said a highlight of the $87 million budget is the city’s ability to fully fund its capital improvement projects, rather than having to borrow money. The projects prioritize infrastructure improvements, specifically roads such as Davis and North White Chapel.

The new budget set the tax rate at 46 cents per $100 of assessed value for the 13th straight year, and it goes into effect on Oct. 1. The budget has a 0.3 percent increase in expenses, and this year’s revenue has exceeded expenditures by more than $9 million, McCaskill said.

“I think Southlake’s trend is positive,” McCaskill said, adding that property values are increasing and some new commercial developments will add to the sales tax revenue.

Police to receive body-worn and dash cameras

The Southlake Police Department will receive body-worn and dashboard cameras that are better integrated in the same system, as the department aims to continually increase its accountability and transparency, Police Chief James Brandon said.

The department has budgeted for 30 body cams, which will cost $27,210, Brandon said, adding that 30 cameras should be enough to cover times when the most officers have been deployed at once -- which is often during heavy winter weather. The department has 24 patrol officers, five on traffic patrol and one K-9 handler.

The department is replacing 26 dash cams for $167,770 for upgraded ones that are programmed with the body cams. Brandon said the new system will link each officer’s body cam video and dash cam video on a split-screen.

Brandon said body cams will enhance the department’s transparency and “increase the amount of trust that we have with the community.”

“They are, frankly, a defense for police officers in the vast majority of cases, they show the true and accurate version of what happened,” Brandon said. “We think it’s the continual step in the evolution of policing.”

Brandon said the department began looking into body cams nearly two years ago.

“Police departments have always had use-of-force incidents, they’ve always had police shootings,” Brandon said. “Recently we’ve seen those rise to a higher profile in the national conversation, but they are not new.

“This was in the works prior to Ferguson. But as (police shootings) occur and rise in everyone’s minds, it is an affirmation that we are moving in the right direction.”

Brandon said several police departments in the area are implementing body cams, at least on a trial basis, and more will in the future.

“That is the direction everything is going,” he said. “I think that level of transparency and accountability is coming to every police department, whether they wish it upon themselves or not.”

This story was originally published September 29, 2015 at 9:52 AM with the headline "Southlake to increase homestead exemption."