Greetings, Mission families. This has been an extraordinary and historic year for our City of Mission, and I am so proud to guide our community in these achievements as your mayor.
Mission Matters and I am honored to carry this motto into the forefront of everything we do to better serve our residents and our community.
Through this inaugural newsletter, my colleagues on the Mission City Council and I are proud to highlight the many wonderful events, projects and accolades we have accomplished over the past few months.
Together, we have worked towards prosperity and growth, having welcomed many new businesses, such as IHop, Neighborhood Walmart, Burlington and more.
Additionally, we took on major initiatives and projects throughout the city, such as becoming a No Refusal City, the Ruby Red Ventures Build Mission Fund, the building of a new Fire & Police Substation, drainage infrastructure improvements, and the highly anticipated expansion of the Anzalduas Bridge, among many others. I am especially proud of the many community events we have held for our residents and community.
The City of Mission is growing and as your leaders, we are proud to continue to work towards attracting new businesses, retailers, residential and commercial developments, and opportunities for our residents. Our retail sales taxes have shown a dramatic 52 percent growth in the last four years.
As we celebrate the holiday season, I would like to reflect on all these accomplishments and thank our residents, city employees, administration and our city council for making Mission matter. We have so much more to accomplish, and I look forward to the many great things that lay ahead for our city in 2024.
Your Mayor,
Norie Gonzalez Garza
Mayor of Mission
Editor’s Note: The above commentary was provided by Mission Mayor Norie Gonzalez Garza in the inaugural edition of Mission Matters, a six-page publication produced by the City of Mission’s public relations department.
Editor’s Note, in the inaugural edition of Mission Matters, there is a section on Mission’s financial well-being. It is titled City of Mission Lowers Tax Rate. Here it is:
The City of Mission’s financial status continues to be healthy with the city recently approving its 2023-2024 Budget of $140 million.
The city's budget includes pay raises for all city employees.
“Together, we are a team and we value our employees who each contribute to the betterment of our city and Mission families,” said Mayor Norie Gonzalez Garza.
In addition to pay raises, city leaders also approved lowering taxes.
“I am so proud to announce that through strategic planning and fiscal oversight, we have good news for our residents. We, the city of Mission, approved a property tax decrease for the first time since 2017,” exclaimed Mayor Norie Gonzalez Garza.
The new tax rate is $0.6276 per $100 valuation, about a 0.43 percent decrease from last year's tax rate of 0.5299.
With its healthy budget and steady growth, city leaders also reported that Mission’s property valuation increased from last year - $785 million. That's a 13.8% growth quote.
“I’d like to thank our city manager - Randy Perez, our administration and our finance employees sorry, our finance department employees for their diligent efforts in preparing this year's budget, and I’d like to thank my colleagues on the Mission City Council for their continued dedication to improving the quality of life for our employees and our residents,” said Mayor Gonzalez Garza. She added: “We are a great team.”
