Saturday, July 25, 2020

The Week of July 27th - 31st, 2020 in the City of Waxahachie

Hello Friends!

On the City's calendar, there is only one meeting so far this week.  Please check back at http://www.waxahachie.com/calendar.php to see if more have been added.

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Tuesday, July 28, 2020
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7:00 PM - Planning & Zoning Commission Regular Meeting
Council Chamber, City Hall

Agenda Packet: https://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/document-uploads-001/uploads/video/agenda_file/74022/7-28-20_P_Z_Agenda_Packet.pdf

There is only one public hearing at this meeting and therefore there is no P&Z Briefing session ahead of the meeting.

5 & 6 - A public hearing for a zoning change from SF3 to Planned Development -Multi Family 2 to build a senior living complex located at the SE corner of Parks School House Road and East Main Street.  Staff is recommending approval.

This meeting will be live-streamed from this link, once the meeting has started. http://www.waxahachie.com/government/city_council/city_council_meeting_live_stream.php  I anticipate this will be a relatively short meeting since this is the only item of discussion.
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I hope that everyone has a great rest of their weekend and a wonderful week ahead!

Your Friendly Councilmember,

Melissa Olson
molson@waxahachie.com
text: 817-507-5162
www.olsonfortexas.com

Saturday, July 18, 2020

The Week of July 20th -24th, 2020 in the City of Waxahachie

Hello Friends!

I have an important announcement this week, although it's not about something that's on the agenda, but rather something which isn't.  The resolution to direct the calculation of the voter-approval rate at 8% is no longer on Monday's agenda.  Council received an email from the City Manager on Friday morning which reported that we will be able to use the 3.5% figure, "but also not completely derail our positive direction for serving our community."  I think this is wonderful news and appreciate everyone who got in touch with myself and the rest of the Council and expressed their position on the matter.

Here are the draft minutes from recent city meetings: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1i6-5nfJuolw60g6T5qnkLbDUuB21rLSV/view?usp=sharing

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Monday, July 20, 2020
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7:00 PM - City Council Regular Meeting
Council Chamber, City Hall

Agenda Packet: https://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/document-uploads-001/uploads/video/agenda_file/73772/7-20-20_City_Council_Agenda_Packet.pdf

6 & 7 - A public hearing for a neighborhood called Dove Hollow drew lots of attention at the P&Z meeting, but it will not be discussed at this meeting.  The applicant asked staff to continue the case from the 7/20 Council meeting and be placed on the August 3rd Council agenda.

There are a couple of other housing developments, which were approved by P&Z (you can review the minutes of the meeting above). The details are in the agenda packet (linked above as well) for those who would like more information.

The only other item that I think most find interesting is item 16, which is a resolution to enter into an agreement with TXDoT for the closure of FM 813 north of Spring Creek Drive and south of Grove Creek Drive. The road closure will begin July 22, 2020 and will re-open on September 2, 2020. There is an attached detour map in the agenda packet for your review. 

This meeting will be live-streamed and public are both welcome and encouraged to attend.  If you would like to view the meeting live, you can do so via this link: http://www.waxahachie.com/government/city_council/city_council_meeting_live_stream.php
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That's all that there is so far for this week.  Please check back on the calendar here: http://www.waxahachie.com/calendar.php to see if any more meetings have been added during the week.

I hope y'all enjoy the rest of your weekend and have a wonderful week ahead!

Your Friendly Councilmember,

Melissa Olson
(text) 817-507-5162
molson@waxahachie.com
www.olsonfortexas.com

Sunday, July 12, 2020

The Week of July 13th - 17th, 2020 in the City of Waxahachie

Hello Friends,

I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe in this heat.  Sounds like it will be a scorcher for at least the next couple of days.  This will be a newsletter that is much more lengthy than usual, so I apologize for that in advance.

I'd like to first, let you know that the Council tabled agenda item # 10 from the last meeting to the July 20th.  There seems to have been some confusion about what that item was about and I'd like to clear up a few things:
  • It is NOT a tax rate increase of 8%
  • It is the Council considering the calculation of our rollback rate at 8% due to COVID-19, instead of 3.5% (which is what it should be calculated at under Senate Bill 2, authored by Senator Paul Bettencourt)
  • Before SB2, a city’s rollback rate was the rate necessary to raise precisely eight percent more maintenance and operations tax revenue as the year before after taking into account appraisal fluctuations.
  • In addition to changing the terminology from “rollback rate” “to “voter-approval rate,” S.B. 2 lowers the multiplier used in the rate calculation from 8 percent to 3.5 percent
  • IF the rollback rate is calculated at the 3.5%, preliminary projections say it will drop our total tax rate by a few cents/ $100 of valuation
  • If a city goes over the rollback rate, it triggers an election for the people to approve the suggested rate, hence many entities will go up to or near the max but not over because they know that residents aren't going to approve more taxes.
  • If you'd like to learn more about SB2, here is a document with Q & A from the Texas Municipal League, which talks about it: https://www.tml.org/DocumentCenter/View/1485/sb-2-qa_update_jan-2020 
  • Council IS considering a tax rate decrease of 2 cents / $100 valuation on the debt service side of the tax rate from last year's debt service rate.  
  •  The total tax rate is broken down into a few portions - M&O (maintenance and operations), Debt Service and Library M&O.
This may have cleared things up, or may have made them more confusing.  I hope it is at least a little clearer now on the procedure and what Item #10 was about.  That being said, I still would like to see our city calculate the rollback rate at 3.5% because it isn't about 'leaving money on the table' or what the city will lose.  It's YOUR money and the less of it we take, the better. 

Based on the preliminary numbers I've been given, the 3.5% rollback rate would still cover everything in our basic operations and even all those service enhancement requests for this budget, except for one item.  If we postpone the $1.7 million expenditure for the design and engineering on a new City Annex building (currently looking at $15 Million more for the cost), we have more than enough to cover what the City needs and then some.

Some have said that I have been untruthful by leaving out information, but that wasn't my intent at all.  I was trying to explain the one Council agenda item without having to do this much in-depth analysis.  Most people ask me - explain it to me simply, so I did.  Apparently, that made some think I was intentionally leaving out information.  Anyways, I hope that all of this has been useful and perhaps lends to a better understanding of this component of your property taxes. 

The only items on the calendar so far for this week are the P&Z briefing and meeting Tuesday night, so please check back on the calendar for more items being added (although I don't anticipate any at this time). http://www.waxahachie.com/calendar.php

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Tuesday, July 14, 2020
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6:00 PM - Planning & Zoning Commission Briefing Session
Council Conference Room, City Hall

Agenda: https://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/document-uploads-001/uploads/video/agenda_file/73530/PZAgenda20200714B.pdf

The purpose of this meeting is to conduct a briefing to discuss items for the 7:00 PM regular meeting.  Residents are welcome to attend.  This meeting will not be live-streamed.

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7:00 PM - Planning & Zoning Commission Regular Meeting
Council Chamber, City Hall

Agenda: https://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/document-uploads-001/uploads/video/agenda_file/73531/7-14-20_P_Z_Agenda_Packet.pdf

There are three public hearings on this week's agenda.

7 & 8 - Public hearing on a request for a proposed Subdivision development, Dove Hollow, located adjacent and south of Grove Creek Rd.  Staff is recommending approval of this case, SP-75-2020, with a Developer's Agreement.

9 & 10 - Public hearing on a request for owner WISD for a zoning change to Planned Development - Single Family - 3, with Concept Plan, located at the NW corner of Peters Street at Graham St. The prior submittal which included 120 townhome lots was denied by Council on 04/20/20.  This new case # ZDC-83-2020, is being recommended for approval with a Developer's Agreement by staff.

11 & 12 - Public hearing for a Planned Development Amendment, with concept plan, located generally at Conquest Boulevard and US Highway 287.  The applicant is requesting to amend Ordinance 2296, to allow for construction of a second phase of 188 residential units on 10.407 acres. Staff is recommending denial of this case, ZDC-84-2020.

This meeting will be live streamed and can be accessed via the following link: http://www.waxahachie.com/government/city_council/city_council_meeting_live_stream.php

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That's all there is for this week.  As noted above, please check the City's calendar (link above) to see if any meetings have been added.

I hope that everyone enjoys the rest of their weekend and has a wonderful week ahead!

Your Friendly Councilmember,

Melissa Olson
(text) 817-507-5162
molson@waxahachie.com
www.olsonfortexas.com

Sunday, July 5, 2020

*PLEASE READ* The Week of July 6th - 10th, 2020 in the City of Waxahachie

Hello Friends,

This is a VERY IMPORTANT newsletter this week. There is one matter that is of such importance, in fact, that I am going to pretty much focus solely on that.  If you'd like to see what other meetings are happening in Waxahachie this week, please go to the City's website here: http://www.waxahachie.com/calendar.php

For a copy of the draft minutes from recent board meetings, please view them here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VQvwpyTv9o2QnWTa3fnon4Zu_d-ghHUQ/view?usp=sharing

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Monday, July 6, 2020
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6:00 PM - Waxahachie City Council Work Session
Council Chamber, City Hall

Agenda: https://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/document-uploads-001/uploads/video/agenda_file/72279/CCAgenda20200706W.pdf

The purpose of this work session is to discuss the City's upcoming decision on our trash service.  It is open to the public, but will most likely not be live-streamed, so I encourage everyone who can make it, to do so.

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*** 7:00 PM - Waxahachie City Council Regular Meeting ***
Council Chamber, City Hall

**** Anyone coming to the meeting please have a mask with you just in case they are required at City Hall.  Thank you!! *****

Agenda Packet: https://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/document-uploads-001/uploads/video/agenda_file/72278/7-6-20_City_Council_Agenda_Packet.pdf

The most important item on this agenda and pretty much any agenda you will see from Waxahachie is #10. This item is on the agenda as "consider" so if you wish to speak to it, you must do so during the Public Comments section of the agenda (which is in the beginning).

Please review the picture to the right to learn more about a city's rollback rate and Senate Bill 2.


In short, during the last legislative session, in order to help residents with property tax reform, Senate Bill 2 was passed that would change that 8% to 3.5%.  There is a loophole, however, that in times of a declared disaster, a taxing entity can go back up to the 8%.  I don't think this is right.  I think that in these unprecedented times, you don't tax people at the maximum allowed by law.

A copy of the proposed resolution can be found in both the agenda packet (link above) and the picture to the left.  Passing this resolution will allow our rollback rate to be calculated at 8%, which is the OLD maximum that cities could tax before triggering an election. While it is legal under the law due to the emergency declaration by the Governor, people have suffered enough during the COVID-19 pandemic.  I think it's time for us to do right by the taxpayers and lower our rollback rate to the 3.5%, not only in the spirit of SB2, but because it's the right thing to do.

The City is still proposing a two cent tax rate reduction which is great, but that is in our debt service side, not the M&O (maintenance and operations) side. Basically, that means that the 2 cent reduction should stay and not be affected by changing the rollback rate to 3.5%.

I hope that you are able to come and speak for either passing the resolution as written at the 8% or if you think that should be lowered.  Please remember to speak during the public comments, as item #10 is not open to public discussion once reached on the agenda.

If unable to make it to the meeting, it will be live-streamed and accessible via this link:  http://www.waxahachie.com/government/city_council/city_council_meeting_live_stream.php

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Tuesday, July 7, 2020
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8:30 AM - Council Budget Work Session #1 (#2 may or may not be necessary)
Civic Center

Agenda: https://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/document-uploads-001/uploads/video/agenda_file/72280/7-7-20_City_Council_Work_Session_Agenda.pdf

This work session is being held to have a discussion of the City of Waxahachie 2020-2021 fiscal year budget.  This is a public meeting, but will probably not be live-streamed.  It usually takes a few hours, but if you're able to make it, you learn a lot about our budget process.

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Again, there are other meetings going on this week and if interested, you can follow the link above to the calendar to see when they are and all the details.

I hope that everyone has a happy and safe 4th of July weekend!

Your Friendly Councilmember,

Melissa Olson
(text) 817-507-5162
molson@waxahachie.com
www.olsonfortexas.com