The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 122, No. 35, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 30, 2012 Page: 3 of 52
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THE CANADIAN RECORD
NEWS PAGE
THURSDAY 3D AUGUST 2D 1 2
Proposed city budget includes
street repairs, park improvements
First of two tax rate hearings slated for tonight
City council members pored over a list of
“gotta-do’s” and “wanna-do’s” last Monday in
preparation for approving a budget and adopt-
ing a tax rate for 2012-13. Included in this
year’s budget are $1.65 million for the waste-
water treatment plan rehabilitation project—
a project that all agreed they hoped would fi-
nally get underway this year—as well as allo-
cations for nuisance abatement, seal coating,
new trash dumpsters, a vibratory packer for
street repairs and employee pay raises.
Taking advantage of steadily growing
sales tax receipts, higher revenues from the
city water and sewer rate restructuring and a
tax base that shows signs of growth, the coun-
cil unanimously proposed adoption of this
year’s effective tax rate of .503610/$100. Last
year’s total tax rate was .507053/$100. Under
the proposed rate, the average homeowner’s
tax bill will decrease by $5.47.
In a roll call vote, with Cassi Rash absent,
the council voted unanimously to propose
adoption of this year’s effective tax rate, with
Colby Waters, Tim Pierce, Lisa Ayala and
Bob Gober all in favor.
City manager Hoyt Manning said the
city’s economic picture has improved over the
last year. Much of the improvement is due to
increased revenues from the 1/2-cent sales
tax which last year alone totaled $1.7 million.
“Ten years ago, our revenue for the entire
year didn’t amount to what we’ve made in one
month this past fiscal year,” he said. “This
year, we are proposing $1 million sales tax
revenues, a quarter of which goes to the EDC.
That is half of our general fund revenue.”
Manning said the water and sewer rate re-
structuring has also had a positive impact on
the city’s budget. Councilman Tim Pierce not-
ed that while it had generated a lot of revenue,
“It upset a lot of people, too.”
Manning reminded him that the bulk of
that revenue will go to make the payment on
the bonded indebtedness for the city’s sewer
facility improvements this year.
“I’m hopeful that in the next couple of
months, the county will be considering giving
a very generous $200,000 to be used toward
that bonded indebtedness,” Pierce respond-
ed.
Manning reminded him that the county’s
promised contribution is only good for one
year, and that it was the court’s intention
that the city maintain the current rate struc-
ture. While this summer’s drought has been
a revenue-generator for the water depart-
ment, a wet summer would have the opposite
effect, hampering the city’s ability to make
the $350,000 annual payment on that debt
through water sales.
“We are generating revenue with the
bonded indebtedness,” said Pierce, “and we’ve
done nothing. We passed it for a reason. If we
just continue to sit on it and don’t start making
CITY BUDGET SNAPSHOT
Expenditures already budgeted for the coming year include:
• $50,000 for nuisance abatement. This money is in addition to $50,000 allotted this year
for nuisance abatement. That money has not been spent yet, but Manning told the council
that the city will spend about half of it before the end of September to pay for cleanup of
the Buschman property at the east end of Kingman. Nicholas Thomas has given a bid for
that cleanup project and set a $25,000 cap on it. Manning said the city is working with its
attorney to detail the contact it has had with the owner and the limited response it has re-
ceived before proceeding with abatement. “We are making sure all our i’s are dotted and
t’s crossed,” he said.
• $120,000 for seal coating.
• $31,500 for 60 new trash dumpsters.
• $30,000 for a vibratory packer for street repairs and $30,000 for street and alley pav-
ing. The council agreed after some discussion that at least $50,000 should be allotted for
street and drainage improvements to bring that expenditure in line with nuisance abate-
ment. Waters said the number was an arbitrary one, but that it indicated the city’s resolve
to do something about the problems. “Not all of the problems are going to get fixed in just
one year,” said Pierce, “but we’ve got to start somewhere.”
• $27,000 to replace the water and sewer department’s 23-year-old F350 with an F250,
$15,000 for a payment kiosk to purchase water at the vending machine, and $38,000 for a
50kw generator and light plant.
• Employee pay increase of 3 percent with an additional 2 percent allotted for merit
increases.
Expenditures considered for inclusion in city budget for FY 2013
• Funding for major drainage and/or street improvements needed around town. Man-
ning acknowledged that the Meadows Addition is at the top of that list, but said engineer’s
estimates of the costs to curb, gutter and pave Elm Street and Third alone are $178,690.
He recommended that the property owners who benefit from those improvements should
bear “a significant portion of the cost.”
• Funding for the replacement of City Hall. The council discussed the need for ADA ac-
cessibility to the municipal building, considered setting aside a portion of hotel/motel tax
and sales tax revenues to start a fund for a building project, and discussed first seeking
public input on whether or not to restore the existing city hall or build a new one.
• A recommended $103,000 (revenue to the city from Oasis Cove sale) in funding for
park improvements to update equipment at Jackson Park and convert Centennial Park to
a disc golf course. In discussing city parks, the council agreed that the revenue brought in
by the sale of city property on Sixth Street for construction of the Oasis Cove multi-family
housing complex should be used for improvements to both Jackson and Centennial Parks.
An earlier proposal to sell Second Street Park was ruled out by Manning, who said selling
a park was too complicated and suggested the city might just scale the facility back to a pic-
nic area, which entails less liability for the city. Councilman Waters has been a persistent
advocate for the possibility of building a municipal building to replace City Hall at Sunset
Park. He expressed his concern about the city’s lack of control over what is done at Sunset,
and about public statements by Mert Cooper—who with wife Betty donated the park to
the city—that the property cannot be used for other purposes. “I’ve looked at the deed,”
Waters said. “There’s a lot of definitions for parks and a lot of ways parks can be utilized...
that cover more than one individual’s needs.” “I agree, but I also agree that somebody
shouldn’t decide when they’ve never been to this chamber,” said Mayor Rob Talley,
adding, “That park costs us more than any other park in town.”
The city will hold two public hearing on its proposed tax rate—the first one tonight
(Thursday, August 30) and the second one on Tuesday, September 4. Both hearings
will be held at 5:30 pm at City Hall.
progress, it’s harder to justify.” in a search for adequate supplies nearby of the
Manning assured Pierce that a great deal clay that will be needed to line the ponds—
of work had been done on the project. “It is and that he believed the project could now be
frustrating to all of us that we haven’t turned completed for about a million less than was
a shovel of dirt,” he agreed, but noted that the originally committed,
time has been spent effectively—particularly
NEWS BBIEFS
Water district to conduct public hearing on
tax rate next Thursday
The Hemphill County Underground Wa-
ter Conservation District board will conduct
a public hearing next Thursday, September
6, to consider adoption of a proposed 2012
tax rate of .020/$100. Though individual tax-
es may increase or decrease depending on
the change in a property’s taxable value, the
proposed rate, if adopted, would lower the
amount of taxes paid by the average home-
owner by $2.05. It was proposed in a unan-
imous roll call vote of board members Jim
Haley, Mary Alice Hughes, Beth Sturgeon
and Melvin Walser. The public is invited to
comment on the tax rate proposal in a hear-
ing beginning at 6:30 pm in the Commission-
ers’ Courtroom at Hemphill County Court-
house. Following the hearing, the board will
adopt a budget for fiscal year 2012-13, set the
tax rate for 2012 taxes, and consider an order
adopting an export fee for 2012-13. #35
Guv. Rick Perry appoints
new Education Commissioner
On Monday, Governor Rick Perry named
former Texas Railroad Commissioner Mi-
chael Williams the new commissioner of the
Texas Education Agency. Williams—a for-
mer general counsel to Texas’ Republican
Party—was appointed to the RRC in 1999 by
then-Governor George W. Bush, becoming
the first African-American to hold a state-
wide elected position. He resigned that posi-
tion in 2011. His only official experience with
education policy was when President George
H.W. Bush appointed him to the U.S. Depart-
ment of Education’s civil rights division. Yes-
terday, Senator Kel Seliger, member of the
Senate Education Committee and Joint In-
terim Committee to Study the Public School
Finance System, commended Williams’ ap-
pointment, saying, “It is fitting that the Gov-
ernor has named a new Commissioner of Ed-
ucation on the first day of school. I have had
the opportunity to work with Commissioner
Michael Williams in a number of cases, most
notably the FutureGen project. He is an ex-
tremely capable and dedicated public ser-
vant. I look forward to taking part in the dia-
logue with the new commissioner, educators,
and other stakeholders to help ensure that
this appointment is a step forward in public
education in Texas.” As noted in The Texas
Tribune, Williams’ appointment comes at a
trying time for the agency, which lost a third
of its workforce after last year’s budget cuts.
“Amid anxiety from parents, educators and
administrators—and backlash from law-
makers—over its transition to a rigorous
new assessment and accountability system,
the state is facing six lawsuits over the way
it funds public schools,” wrote Morgan Smith
in the August 27 Tribune. “More than half
of Texas public schools failed to meet yearly
benchmarks under the No Child Left Behind
Act, but the state remains one of the hand-
ful that have yet to seek a waiver from the
requirements from the federal government.”
Smith noted that the Education Agency will
be under Sunset Review in October. #35
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Brown, Laurie Ezzell. The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 122, No. 35, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 30, 2012, newspaper, August 30, 2012; Canadian, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth649664/m1/3/: accessed June 21, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Hemphill County Library.