by SEAN KIMMONS
Kyle’s 2010 outlook report disclosed a steady decline in home building permits, huge increases in population and medical facilities, a relatively low tax rate and plans for various public works projects, a recent city council meeting revealed.
The report showed the city’s current estimated population at a little more than 29,000, up from 5,700 in 2000. In 2004, a growth management report expected the city to climb past 30,000 residents in 2008.
“We’ve seen dramatic growth in the last 10 years,” Kyle City Manager Tom Mattis said.
Depending on future growth rates, the population could reach anywhere between 43,000 to more than 56,000 by the end of the decade, Mattis said.
However, the city saw its lowest annual number in single-family home building permits of the past decade last year at 311 permits. The highest mark was in 2004 at 1,220 permits and has gradually dropped since then. There were only 32 permits for January and February of 2010.
“We’re seeing a steady decline in building activity that will eventually level off,” Mattis said.
As of now, the city has more than 21,000 living unit equivalents (LUEs), which include existing houses and apartments and platted lots already authorized. Growth analysis for the maximum build-out of the LUEs could equate to more than 71,000 residents, if developers completed all projects already in the pipeline.
In this scenario, Plum Creek would own 41 percent of the distribution of homes in Kyle. The subdivision currently stands at 16 percent, with almost 7,400 dwellings yet to be built.
In sales tax tracking, the city finally caught up to its Fiscal Year 2009-10 estimates after it posted more than $329,000 in February. Sales tax reports have a three-month lag, so therefore, February’s figure is actually November’s sales tax numbers.
Thus far, Kyle has pulled in almost $1.2 million in sales tax in FY 2009-10, the report said.
In total, Kyle projects to earn more than $8.9 million in tax revenue, which includes sales taxes, property taxes, franchise fees, public service charges and fines and forfeitures during FY 2009-10.
Kyle’s current tax rate remains one of the lowest in the region at 42.4 cents per $100 property evaluated, the report said.
Kyle Finance Director Charles Cunningham said that the city’s tax rate had peaked in 1992 at 69 cents and has plummeted until recent years when it jumped to the current rate.
“We compare favorably with other cities,” he said.
The rate doesn’t include an additional 11 cents, mainly due to the 9.5 cent tax rate for Emergency Services District #5 that covers fire and rescue services. Other nearby cities input emergency service fees into their city tax rate.
In the medical arena, Kyle has opened, broken ground or announced about 558,000 square feet of medical space in the past two years. Much of that comes from the 330,000-square foot Seton Hays Medical Center that opened last fall.
Approximately 1,450 medical jobs come with the added facilities, the report added.
“Kyle is in the right direction of becoming a medical hub in the region,” said Kyle Economic Development Director Diana Blank.
The $2.4 million public works building is on tap to be completed in May, providing an extra 10,000 square feet of space to a growing public works department.
In May, the city also looks to start the bidding process on the Tenorio Addition Wastewater Rehabilitation project, estimated at $510,000. The project will abandon existing lines that currently run under homes and buildings, and it will aid in reducing inflow and infiltration issues to assist in reducing load at the sewer plant and reduce plant costs, the report said.
The public works force will also attempt to seal 18 miles of cracked streets this year and repair numerous potholes with its patch truck, the report added.
