\u201cMy office staff typically pays it but the person in charge is no longer with me, so it slipped through the cracks,\u201d Ross wrote in a 2023 text message to KERA News.<\/p>\n
Ross told KERA the IRS originally began garnishing his wages from the city \u2014 the $250 a month he gets paid as mayor. Despite owning a restaurant and law firm, Ross said his only paychecks come from the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ross left his business ventures in the hands of trusted employees when he was elected to council, he said. That allowed him to dedicate around 70 hours a week to his job as Arlington\u2019s mayor but meant no longer cutting himself a paycheck and even some downsizing.<\/p>\n
His law firm went from 50 or 60 employees to four, including one attorney, he said. He said he couldn\u2019t be present as much as needed to manage a firm of that size.<\/p>\n
Ross said troubles with his business, including the economic downturn during the pandemic, have created a difficult financial situation for him. He also said those challenges haven\u2019t impacted his work as mayor.<\/p>\n
Ross, who was originally elected mayor in June 2021, is eligible to serve one more 3-year term under the city\u2019s term limits. He said he intends to run for reelection.<\/p>\n
KERA News reached out to every member of the city council for comment and received responses from four. Raul Gonzalez, who represents District 2, and Bowie Hogg, the council member for District 7, declined to comment.<\/p>\n
Council members Andrew Piel and Mauricio Galante told KERA News they agree that personal finances haven\u2019t stopped the mayor from doing his job effectively. They said Ross cares about the city and the people who call Arlington home.<\/p>\n
\u2018He puts his own interests last\u2019<\/p>\n
Piel, who represents District 4 and is ineligible to run for reelection under the city\u2019s term limits, said he regularly disagrees with Ross when the city council discusses policy issues.<\/p>\n
He said he still believes Ross is a good mayor despite their disagreements, and the issues with his taxes haven\u2019t changed that opinion.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf anything I think the only thing that he can be accused of is caring too much about the people of Arlington to the point where sometimes he puts his own interests last behind all the commitments he has to being mayor and the people of Arlington,\u201d Piel told KERA News.<\/p>\n
Piel said he spoke with Ross about his tax situation when he first found out last week and expressed concerns about juggling duties as mayor and ensuring his businesses were successful.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like he understood my critique and understands that you have to be balanced in how you approach the position of mayor and make sure you look after your own interests, and not just the interests of the people of Arlington,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Galante, who represents District 1, echoed the difficulty of running a business while serving as mayor or on city council.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said he stepped away from his golf business, handing the reigns over to his wife, because being on Arlington\u2019s council is a full-time job that he, Piel and Ross all described as being basically a volunteer job.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s because Arlington\u00a0council members get $200 a month<\/a>\u00a0while the mayor gets $250 per month.<\/p>\n Galante was endorsed by Ross in his campaign for council and said he likes the mayor, but that wouldn\u2019t stop him from calling him out if he was doing something wrong or performing poorly in his office. He said he has openly disagreed with Ross before and isn\u2019t afraid of speaking up when he thinks something is wrong.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re good friends, but he knows I am not the person that is going to tell him what he wants to hear,\u201d Galante told KERA News in an interview. \u201cI am the person who is going to tell him what he needs to hear. My sole job here is to protect and promote the people of Arlington.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Galante said he hasn\u2019t seen any change in Ross since he was elected to council and doesn\u2019t believe trouble with the IRS has impacted the mayor\u2019s work in any way.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ross said he doesn\u2019t believe his tax situation has affected his ability to do the job.\u00a0<\/p>\n He pointed to economic growth in the city, with six companies moving their global or North American headquarters to the city, including the tech and transportation\u00a0companies like Mozee<\/a>, an autonomous vehicle producer, and OverAir, the company producing\u00a0flying taxis Ross hopes to see<\/a>\u00a0in the skies above Arlington next year.<\/p>\n That, Ross said, has brought thousands of good, high paying jobs to the city.<\/p>\n He also pointed to a\u00a05% decrease in overall crime<\/a>\u00a0from 2023 to 2024, according to crime statistics from Arlington police.<\/p>\n Managing city finances<\/p>\n Galante said folks unfamiliar with the way a city government is run might have concerns about Ross\u2019 ability to manage the city\u2019s finances. He\u2019s not worried about that and said it\u2019s important to understand the full process of setting the budget.<\/p>\n The city\u2019s budget is created by staff trained in how to manage a city\u2019s finances. While crafting the budget, Ross and the city council provide guidance. They can ask staff to look at ways to increase funding for projects, programs and services or to find ways to reduce or cut those expenses from the budget.<\/p>\n Galante said community input is also an important part of the process. The city solicits that input through town halls, public forums and opportunities for the community to address the council during meetings.<\/p>\n After that, Ross and the eight council members vote to approve or reject the proposed budget. Ross\u2019 vote carries the same weight as each of the council members. It\u2019s up to nine elected officials, including the mayor, to make those financial decisions.<\/p>\n Galante said he trusts Ross\u2019 judgment, but the city doesn\u2019t rely on the mayor\u2019s opinions alone when setting budgets, creating policies or approving expenses.<\/p>\n Piel said he feels the issue was already put to bed when Ross worked out a way to pay the money owed.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to say it\u2019s not a serious matter because whenever you have a dispute with the IRS, it is a serious matter,\u201d Piel said. \u201cI feel like it\u2019s already resolved with the payments.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Budget woes<\/p>\n Arlington is facing a $25 million budget gap in 2026, in large part due to the Tarrant Appraisal District\u2019s decision not to reappraise property taxes next year or in 2027, according to city officials.<\/p>\n Galante said that decision by TAD hurts the city\u2019s coffers because updated home values help cities like Arlington keep up with inflation and other economic changes.<\/p>\n But the budget hasn\u2019t been negatively impacted by Ross\u2019 finances, Galante said.<\/p>\n Ross has called for cuts to spending, praised city staff for its work to reduce the budget and asked them to find ways to avoid or reduce any tax increases that may be necessary to balance the city\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n The city has proposed around $19 million in cuts to the budget, slashing funding for programs and services along the way, to avoid passing on the cost to taxpayers. Arlington may pull $4 million from the city\u2019s reserve fund as a way to avoid laying off 40 employees.\u00a0<\/p>\n The money, which City Manager Trey Yelverton called a \u201cchallenge grant,\u201d would allow the city to fund those positions for one more year, during which those employees can either apply for other vacancies in the city or look for employment elsewhere. He\u2019s described it as a \u201chumane\u201d method for laying off employees.<\/p>\n At the end of the challenge grant\u2019s year, Yelverton said those positions would be fully cut from the city. The council would not be able to renew that funding to sustain the jobs after the year ends.<\/p>\n With more than $2 million left to cut, the city is looking at reducing employee and retiree benefits, foregoing the usual 3% raise and hiking taxes by up to 1 cent for every $100 of valuation. The average property tax bill on an Arlington home would go up about $6 a year, according to Yelverton.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n Fort Worth Report is certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative<\/a> for adhering to standards for ethical journalism.<\/p>\n Republish This Story<\/p>\n
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