Heath Strong: New Year’s Message from City of Heath Mayor Kelson Elam

Mayor Elam and family – 2020 Homecoming Reverse Parade

HEATH, TX – Jan. 6, 2021 – Years from now we’ll tell stories of how we tackled the pandemic of 2020. We’ll never take haircuts or toilet paper for granted again. “I’m so over these masks,” uttered at least once by most of us, will be a phrase of the past.

Some stories will be very sad, but our community’s commitment and perseverance to stay safe while going on with our lives has only made us stronger.

At the start of the pandemic, there were too many unknowns, and we asked everyone to shelter in place. As others developed more rules and policies, we found the Golden Rule was what we needed most. From the beginning I expressed faith in the citizens of Heath, and you did not disappoint.

Our City Manager, Aretha Adams, led the city responsibly by erring on the side of caution while still providing all of the needed services for our citizens. We channeled $400,000 of sales tax revenue back to our businesses to keep them going. No other city came close to this level of financial support. Most of our businesses are now back to pre-COVID-19 revenues.

Even in a pandemic, and again for the third year in a row, the council was able to reduce our property tax rate based on our “equivalent tax” formula. If your value didn’t go up too much, you should be paying about the same as last year.

Our sales tax revenues actually increased due to the spike in online sales, which pay out based on the final destination. We are also saving for future projects as part of our “pay as you go” strategy. Heath will continue to prepare for future challenges. If you have to pick a place to ride out a pandemic, Heath may be the best spot.

We gave up parades, parties, fireworks and vacations. We’re looking forward to gatherings, handshakes, smiles and handing out hugs. Stay the course. We’re almost there. Our community is running on all cylinders and we’ve got a wicked growl coming from the tail pipes.

We’re Heath Strong – Kelson Elam, Mayor

Source: City of Heath Newsletter

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