Mayor Paul Voelker and the Richardson City Council presented the City’s annual State of the City Address Jan. 25 at the Eisemann Center. Mayor Voelker highlighted recent accomplishments, and also spoke about some of the things on the horizon in 2023.
“These past 12 months have been a roller coaster of a year,” Mayor Voelker said during the Address. “On the bright side, 2022 brought future expansion of medical facilities at Methodist Richardson Medical Center, witnessed the opening of The IQ® HQ in the Richardson Innovation Quarter and brought significant progress in The CORE, the Silver Line and other projects that will soon add to the strength of our local economy.”
The mayor began the Address by discussing the August 2022 fire that caused the temporary closure of City Hall. He noted a decision on the future of the building is expected to be made by the City Council in February and thanked the community for its support and understanding as City workers restored services affected by the fire.
“Within hours of the flames being extinguished, City staff was hard at work to restore in-person, online and other services and infrastructure lost due to the damage,” he said. “I’m proud to say, it took less than three days to normalize impacted City services and relocate them to the Ray Noah Municipal Court Building and other sites. The amount of work this took was extraordinary, and our City staff is to be commended for their dedicated efforts to make this happen.”
Also noted in the Address was the reduction in the tax rate, which is currently at a level last seen in 2006. This reduction was possible because robust property and sales tax performances provided resources to meet economic challenges.
“This year, the economic picture is less clear,” Mayor Voelker said. “However, we have taken steps to buffer negative economic impacts. While the future is never certain, please know, we will continue to be responsible with your tax dollars.”
The grand opening of the new IQ HQ in the Richardson Innovation Quarter was also highlighted. The partnership between the City and University of Texas at Dallas is a way the City builds on the strength of the local economy through community investment and leveraging partnerships.
“Our crown jewel of that approach was celebrated last September when we cut the ribbon to officially open our new headquarters in the Richardson Innovation Quarter,” Mayor Voelker said. “This near 30,000-square-foot facility includes City and University of Texas at Dallas offices and space for entrepreneurs and future early-stage companies to find the synergies to make them successful.”
Mayor Voelker concluded the Address by thanking the City’s local and regional partners for all they do to make Richardson a great place to live, work, play, study, perform, gather, invent and design.
“Believe me when I tell you, it is not every city that can talk about some of the amazing things that we have been able to present to you tonight; and we do so, year after year,” he said. “That is why I hope you feel great pride in this community.”
