Mayor Neal Linnartz was born and raised in New Braunfels, graduated from Canyon High School, and Texas A&M University. He earned his Juris Doctorate from St. Mary’s University School of Law and built a legal career in the community where he grew up. Linnartz is past president of the New Braunfels Economic Development Corporation, past chair of the New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce Transportation Committee, past president of the Comal County Bar Association, and a member of Wurstfest, among many others. Neal currently serves on the board of Hope Hospice and as chair of the Information Booth Committee for Wurstfest.
Q: If elected, how would you support a thriving local economy, particularly small businesses, and ensure City policies encourage investment and long term economic vitality?
A: I value the Chamber of Commerce as the representative of the business community. Businesses in New Braunfels, and small businesses in particular, play a huge role in helping our community build wealth. When people spend money here, our community becomes wealthier. The more diverse the businesses, the greater they can serve our community and keep local dollars local as well. The Chamber plays a big role in helping small businesses and I am supportive of the Chamber’s efforts. I support the use of Downtown TIRZ funds for small business improvement grants. I support tourism, which brings people from out of town to come here and spend their money here. I support downtown events such as Saengerfest, First Fridays, and Wassailfest, which bring people downtown, where many of our small businesses reside. I support the Spark Small Business Development Center and the efforts to bring an entrepreneurial incubator to New Braunfels.
Q: How are roads and major infrastructure projects funded, and what approach would you take to ensure infrastructure keeps pace with, or gets ahead of, growth?
A: Roads and major infrastructure projects are funded by several different sources: Money is budgeted each year in the general fund for regular road maintenance; roads are scored, public feedback is solicited, and funds are allocated based on need. Bond elections have been approved by the voters for some larger roadway improvements (for example: Conrads/Kohlenberg, Solms, and Kowald). We apply for funding and grants through the Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (AAMPO) and TxDOT. We also partner with AAMPO and TxDOT to improve state owned and maintained roads withing the city. We have adopted a Thoroughfare Plan, which requires developers to build roads within their development, placing that financial burden on them and keeping it off the existing taxpayers. We also make traffic impact analysis required for new developments and then we charge a traffic impact fee to make development pay for roadway improvements to offset the impact they will have.
Q: What is your vision for long range planning in our city, and how would you balance proactive infrastructure investment with responsible fiscal management as the community grows?
A: We engage the community every few years to update our Strategic Plan, which reflects ideals and values that are the roadmap for where the city should focus. We need to use that plan, along with any specific studies, when planning for infrastructure investments. Sticking to the plan and not getting distracted by small noisy groups is important. We are still working on completing a few of the projects funded in the 2023 Bond but in a couple of years, we need to consider a new bond election in the next few years to cover the costs of advancing a few more of the many projects needed in our community. Economic development is also vital to keeping taxes low; offsetting residential property taxes with an industrial and commercial property tax base as well as bringing in outside dollars to our community are key to a low residential property tax rate.