Goodloe ready to attack budget – running to keep taxes low as ‘number-one priority’ in District 4 race

Boyd Goodloe insists on keeping property taxes low in his bid for District 4 City Council – the special election on June 27 election to replace outgoing councilman Brayden Rose.

He described the City Council’s approach as “raising taxes year after year after year.”

He’s not a fan of it.

“As a homeowner and taxpayer, my priority is that the City Council uses financial discipline to adopt a budget annually that does not involve a tax rate increase. I think that’s the number-one priority,” Goodloe said.

“Taxes are going up just because valuations are going up. So, the city’s got more revenue every time based on an increase in appraisal,” Goodloe explained in his interview with LubbockLights.com.

Last year, as one example, the council lowered the property tax rate but did not bring it down to the no-new-revenue rate. It was a big factor in his decision to run for office.

When Mark McBrayer ran for mayor for the first time, he won in a runoff.

“It was an overwhelming victory for him, which to me was a mandate saying, ‘Hey, we’re not going to raise taxes,’” Goodloe said.

“As much pleading and begging as Mark McBrayer and [David] Glasheen did – I mean – they sat there over and over and said, ‘Hey, anything’s on the table [for budget cuts],” Goodloe said.

Goodloe talked to a council member about it during budget season.

“He just basically said, ‘Stuff costs a lot of money,’” Goodloe recalled.

“We have City Council persons who got far less votes than Mark McBrayer ever got that think they know better. …. A lot of people like me are just sick and tired,” Goodloe added.

“Having spent 18 years in youth ministry working as a professional minister in church work, I understand stewardship. We had budgets and that was other people’s money,” Goodloe said.

Other priorities

Road repair was also high on his list of priorities, he said.

“One that jumps to mind, because I drive it often, is 50th and Indiana to the South Loop on Indiana. If you drive down that, you’ll see basically every lane is crumbling right before our eyes,” Goodloe said.

“We’re going to have to get a handle on maintenance and our infrastructure – or it ends up having to be a major, major expense. So, I’m concerned about that,” Goodloe said.

And without being asked, he mentioned proposed data centers for Lubbock.

“There’s really been no forum that the city of Lubbock citizens can go to and share their concern.”

“I think the City Council owes it to the people to really study this, have a lot of facts in place, understand people’s concerns and then bring that to meeting after meeting for the public to be able to hear,” Goodloe said.

“I think too many times we make major big decisions with very little input from citizens of Lubbock,” Goodloe added.

He thinks the city should not offer permits to data center projects for the rest of 2026 and probably 2027, he said.

“And furthermore, I don’t think there should be any tax abatement. If there is, it should be very limited,” Goodloe said.

He had not seen the specifics of Stephen Sanders’ petition drive to force the city to either adopt an 18-month moratorium or take it to Lubbock voters for approval. So, Goodloe was not certain if he supported that effort.

LubbockLights.com asked Goodloe about public safety.

“I feel like we have excellent assets in our fire department and our police department. I believe [police chief] Seth Herman’s selection a couple of years ago was key to our city and quality of life and safety. I know our crime statistics have gone down,” Goodloe said.

He also thinks Lubbock should help people understand how precious water is, saying sometimes businesses will allow water from a sprinkler to run off into the street.

“I see a sign that says ‘water by private well.’ It’s still all our water. It’s an underground resource of all of us and just because you have a well doesn’t mean you should be able to run it off on the road,” Goodloe said.

Born in Lubbock, came back to Lubbock

Goodloe was born in Lubbock, but his family moved to South Texas when he was six months old, he said. The family moved to cities near San Antonio and near Fort Worth.

“I started sixth grade at Nat Williams Elementary,” Goodloe said.

From there he attended Evans Junior High (before it was designated as a middle school) and Lubbock High School. He also got a degree from Texas Tech. He took a sales job after college.

“… Then eventually found my way into youth ministry and served at First United Methodist Church in Lubbock for three years as associate youth minister – and then to two very large churches in Houston where I served nine years before coming back to Lubbock in 2007,” Goodloe said.

He served seven more years at FUMC as a youth minister. He also did HR and capital expenditures for an energy company.

More recently he’s been the local director of a rental equipment business in Wolfforth that also has a location in Granbury and soon in Snyder.

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