Mark Harness

for City Council —  Place 2

There are many more positive steps to be taken in the city, and continuing the progress made to date is important to me.  My vision for the next two years is clear.  Here are some of the initiatives I will work for.

 

City-Sponsored Forum for Businesses and Developers:

 

We have very little land available for development; therefore, we must be cautious and discerning in how it is developed.  We all know the worldwide economic challenges now developing, and Keller will not be unaffected.  That is why we must be even more diligent than in good times to encourage quality businesses to locate in Keller in order to broaden our tax base, increase sales tax revenue and continue to keep our property taxes low.

 

We have several half-empty strip shopping centers.  We need to encourage businesses to locate in Keller to help our tax base to keep our property tax rate low.  “Encourage” does not necessarily mean tax abatements.  There are several businesses that do not need tax abatement to be successful in Keller.   Tax abatements should be the last resort, for the shortest time period, so that taxes flow to our general fund earlier.

 

The TIF, as always, is a concern.  We still need $10-$15 million dollars of improvements for the TIF to be self-supporting. 

 

 

Town Hall Meetings

 

Communication is the key to an informed citizenry and responsive government.  We’ve made a few good steps in the right direction with the “Mayor’s Update” and the City Page, but we need to do more.  You deserve more.  We need to maximize our use of technology to make more detailed information about city operations available to the public.

 

               

 

 

                                                                                                                          Cont.

Vision

Political advertisement paid for by “Mark Harness for Keller City Council”