Bohmfalk said, \u201cHow do we pay for all the infrastructure?\u201d<\/p>\n
She\u2019s in favor of impact fees. The City Council zeroed them out last summer<\/a> because developers told the city the fees were too expensive. LubbockLights.com explained impact fees here<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not because I\u2019m in favor of it. It\u2019s because the overwhelming majority of current residents favor impact fees. \u2026 There\u2019s rapid projected growth. We\u2019re not going to fight growth. It\u2019s going to happen. It\u2019s just how do we pay for it?\u201d Bohmfalk said.<\/p>\n She\u2019d prefer none of the funding methods put an additional burden on property taxes.<\/p>\n Sanders said, \u201cI think the most important issue for us right now is our deficit that we\u2019re in.\u201d<\/p>\n The city\u2019s current budget is balanced according to public records. There was a roughly $5 million sales tax shortfall last year resulting in a hiring freeze and spending reductions. Sales tax revenues have since rebounded.<\/p>\n The city could raise revenue by hosting a music festival, food festival and technology festival, Sanders said.<\/p>\n Other issues like economic development and fairness<\/p>\n McBrayer\u2019s third big issue was growth.<\/p>\n \u201cRecently we\u2019ve had the Chick-fil-A distribution plant<\/a> come here. There are other businesses, lots of other businesses, that are interested in coming to Lubbock,\u201d McBrayer said.<\/p>\n Downtown development, rebuilding Broadway, refurbishing buildings downtown and improving the Civic Center are big issues in his mind. The Texas Legislature gave Lubbock the right to create a Project Financing Zone for revamping the Civic Center. It allows Lubbock to keep tax money that would otherwise go to the state government.<\/p>\n McBrayer also hopes voters will approve an increase in the hotel occupancy tax for the Civic Center.<\/p>\n A proposed A.I. data center made news in Lubbock. A necessary zoning change to locate it in Northeast Lubbock was put on hold.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have been very cautious about data centers. We\u2019re not chasing them,\u201d McBrayer said.<\/p>\n While McBrayer\u2019s big issues were crime, affordability and development, Winans was more focused on getting citizens to participate in their community.<\/p>\n Winans said, \u201cIf I get elected as mayor, I\u2019m not here to tell the citizens what my ideas are. \u2026 The citizens of Lubbock have pulled away from being involved with the city because their ideas are shot down for the ideas of the council and the mayor.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI want to put or bring the mayoral position and the council seat positions back to their original purpose. They\u2019re supposed to be positions of public service. \u2026 It is not for council members or the mayor to gain, but for the citizens to gain from the council members and the mayor.\u201d Winans said.<\/p>\n Bohmfalk said her biggest issue is taxes and paying for infrastructure, but after that it\u2019s \u201cJust to get people involved.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s about advocacy and getting people out to vote. People know the problems they have and the solutions. You just have to ask them and actually listen to them,\u201d Bohmfalk said.<\/p>\n \u201cI love listening to people who have dynamically opposed views and then analyze what they have in common,\u201d Bohmfalk said.<\/p>\n In addition to Lubbock hosting festivals, Sanders thinks the city could use an inland port along Interstate 27.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to take control \u2013 and really take control \u2013 of the transportation sector. So, the big trucks that are coming in, loading in and out, will create that dock. \u2026 The trucks will come here, they can dock here, and the small cities can come pick up their things,\u201d Sanders said.<\/p>\n Sanders would like Lubbock to make enough money from his ideas that the city can afford to build a pool, update the skate park and \u201cDo things in our city that we\u2019ve never done before.\u201d<\/p>\n But he\u2019s not excited about every development \u2013 for example, the Chick-fil-A distribution center.<\/p>\n \u201cWe gave a multi-billion-dollar company free money and free land,\u201d Sanders said.<\/p>\n
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