Sunday, July 3, 2022

The Week of July 4, 2022 in the City of Waxahachie

 Hello Friends!

    I hope y'all are doing well!  I'm gonna jump right in because there is a lot to cover.  This week's newsletter will be a little different than usual just because there are so many announcements going on and I'm trying to keep this from being at least SLIGHTLY shorter than Homer's "The Odyssey".  

Announcements:

1. From the City of Waxahachie’s Facebook page please note: City Offices will be closed on Monday,
July 4 in observance of Independence Day. For non-emergency needs during this time, please call the Waxahachie Police Department at 469-309-4400. For emergencies, please dial 911. Have a safe and happy holiday! 
 
  2. Also from the City’s Facebook page: The Crape Myrtle Capital of Texas will be in full-bloom and
ready to celebrate Independence Day with the 24th Annual Crape Myrtle Festival & Parade. The patriotic celebration will begin on Sunday, July 3, at 6 p.m. with a tailgate party at the Waxahachie Sports Complex located at 151 Broadhead Road. This year, guests will enjoy a concert by King George:
A Tribute to George Strait at 7:30pm. Following the concert will be the spectacular H-E-B and City of Waxahachie fireworks display at 9:15 p.m. 
 
3.  On July 4, the celebration will continue at 10 a.m. with a hometown parade. The parade will line up at Getzendaner Park, head east on Main Street to Rogers Street, and end in the 500 block of South Rogers. For more information, please visit: https://bit.ly/3mQNX9h. 
 
 4. This is just a friendly reminder that fireworks are NOT allowed inside Waxahachie City limits. 
 
Due to how important last week's Council meetings were, I wanted to do a recap:
 
1. During the special Council meeting on June 28th, Patrick Souter was sworn in and will be the Council member for Place 2. Good luck to him in this new role! The Council reorganized and David Hill was appointed Mayor with a 4-1 vote, Wallace voting against and Chris Wright (my opponent who was just elected May 2022) was appointed as Mayor Pro Tem with a 3-2 vote, Wallace and Smith in opposition. 
 
To watch that special meeting, you can go to the following link. It is less than 25 minutes long and you can skip to the parts you want to see if you don’t have that full amount of time to view it. https://waxahachietx.new.swagit.com/videos/176089 
 
2. There was also a budget workshop last Thursday (held at the Civic Center and not live-streamed) and it

is a critical time for the City and residents alike because that workshop is when the staff presents a working draft of the budget for FY 23 to the Council and they get direction from Council as to how to proceed.  The city seems to be moving toward a 1/2 cent reduction in the tax rate. To find out where members of Council sit on that tax rate, I highly encourage you to reach out to them and/or come to meetings and speak during the public comments section of Council meetings.
 
Here is a great Q&A from the Texas Municipal League regarding this still fairly-new law surrounding property tax rates.  (Not all apply to our city though.)  https://www.tml.org/DocumentCenter/View/1485/sb-2-qa_update_july-2021?bidId=
 
One thing to remember when some complain about the 3.5% "cap" on the M&O rate - This 3.5% number does NOT include new property value from the calculation, so the city can bring that in on top of the revenue received from existing properties.  

Here are some takeaways from the proposed FY 23 tax rate thus far.  I will most likely need to do a post in the future solely dedicated to that topic as there is so much to it.
  • The proposed M&O portion of the tax rate is set to the highest it can be by law without holding an election for voters to approve anything higher.
  • The proposed M&O portion of the tax rate is 44.15 cents, which is 3.96 cents LESS than last year
  • The proposed I&S portion of the tax rate is 21.35 cents, which is 3.46 cents HIGHER than last year. I find this important due to the next bullet-point below.
  • The debt service portion of the tax rate was: 17 cents in 2018, 2019, and 2020.  In 2021, the debt service portion of the tax rate was adopted even lower at 16.8 cents.  In 2022, the debt rate portion of the tax rate adopted was 17.89.
  • The resulting proposed total tax rate is 65.5 cents and last year the total property tax rate was approved at 66 cents.
  • The NNR for the I&S portion of the tax rate is not included in any of the material that I can find.  The only reason I point this out is because normally when we talk about the NNR, we are looking at it as a whole, but it was only given as an M&O NNR through the presentation, at least.  It may be safe to assume that the debt service (I&S) NNR is just the same debt service as was adopted last year, but I'm not 100% sure on that.
  • The debt service portion of the tax rate was: 17 cents in 2018, 2019, and 2020.  In 2021, the debt service portion of the tax rate was adopted even lower at 16.8 cents.  In 2022, the debt rate portion of the tax rate adopted was 17.89.
  • If the NNR for the debt service portion of the tax rate is assumed at the 17.89 cents from last year, and you add the NNR for the M&O side at 42.66, you would get a TOTAL tax rate of 60.55 cents.
  • The City is proposing a total property tax rate of 65.5 cents.  If you subtract the 60.55 cent assumed (due to assuming the debt service portion of the total tax rate) from what is proposed, you would see the city is try to pass a tax rate which is 4.95 cents above the NNR.  I hope that this is incorrect, but is disturbing if true because it clearly shows that the city could go down more on the rate than 1/2 cent.

I am concerned that if the debt service is being raised to incur more debt, our taxes WILL be going up even more than they already are because debt service is backed by property taxes and the city must tax enough to cover it.

Some of the rationalizations for this proposed tax rate and my response to them are:
  • Compared to other cities, Waxahachie is one of the lowest tax rates.
    • The residents of Waxahachie live in Waxahachie.  It is irrelevant what other cities are charging their residents.
  • Waxahachie is only approximately 30% of a homeowner's tax bill.
    • Again, this is completely irrelevant.  The Waxahachie City Council has no jurisdiction over any other taxing entity such as the county or school district.  Council is responsible for the tax rate for the City of Waxahachie residents only and should do whatever they are able to do to keep taxes as low as possible for Waxahachie residents while keeping a reasonable standard of services.

Here are a couple of things I've heard/read both past and present regarding the tax rate and my response to them:

  • According to the Daily Light, the city's finance director said if the 65.5 cent tax rate is approved, the owner of a home valued at $257,000 would pay $1,683 in city taxes, up from the average levy of $1,542.
    • That is a tax burden increase of $141 per year for next year! That's not chump change.  Looking at it per month it would be an increase of $11.75/month.  While many residents can handle that kind of increase without financial stress:
      • Why SHOULD we pay more if it is not 100% necessary?  Having a 183 operating day balance in the general fund AFTER several millions are spent on projects coming up, shows that the city has been charging too much for too long to have that amount left over.
      • The cumulative effect of these "not so much" tax increases year after year after year DO become a HUGE burden to the residents, especially those who are older or on a fixed income.
  •  The City will "lose" $500,000 of revenue for every one cent the tax rate is reduced.
    • The revenue POTENTIAL will be lost, I agree, but not revenue.  I'm pretty sure I've said this before but I will again: The money belongs to the hard working people who call Waxahachie home and the City should be doing everything possible to help residents keep that money.
I really need to stress the importance of getting involved. If that means you do nothing other than vote in May, then please do it. There are so many things at stake and yet so few people still don’t participate. That’s probably not true of anyone reading this right now, because you DO want to know what’s happening in your city government and I applaud you for that! It’s up to those who are involved, to try and spread the word. Waxahachie NEEDS its citizens.
 
Now, on to this week's upcoming meetings. Please keep in mind that I'll highlight only those VERY important items this week but urge you to at least read each agenda packet, as they are a wealth of information.  I will post those for each meeting but you can also see all meetings on the city's online calendar here: https://www.waxahachie.com/calendar.php
 
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Monday, July 4, 2022
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* City Hall closed today *
 
* Normally-scheduled Council meeting will be held tomorrow * 
 
Happy 4th of July!  Please be safe!
 
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Tuesday, July 5, 2022
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6:30 PM - City Council Briefing Session
Council Conference Room, City Hall
401 S. Rogers St.


This briefing is being held for staff and Council to discuss items for the 7:00 PM regular meeting.  It is a public meeting and residents may attend, but it is not live-streamed at this time.  They are usually filled with great information, so please go some time if you get the chance.
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7:00 PM - City Council Regular Meeting
Council Chamber, City Hall
401 S. Rogers St.


4 - Public Comments
 
5g - Interlocal Agreement with Frisco ISD - I mention this one because it's so vague.  The City commonly does interlocal agreements, but I couldn't find the reason WHY for this one.  Neither the memo for the item nor the agreement itself specified what mutual benefit they were seeking to gain.  For example, here's an agenda packet from June 2018 where on agenda item 6c, Waxahachie does an interlocal agreement with Ellis County.  The memo and the agreement itself both tell you why.  https://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/document-uploads-001/uploads/video/agenda_file/32484/6-18-18_City_Council_Agenda_Packet.pdf

5h - City Council Appointments to Boards and Commissions: This is where the members of Council are appointed to be the city liaison to various city boards.  There are some interesting ones this go around.  One example is Mayor Hill being proposed to serve on the Keep Waxahachie Beautiful board.  At least since I've been involved, the least-tenured person has been the one to be that liaison, so there's nothing wrong per se', it's just a bit different.  It might be something to take a glance at.
 
17 - Consider the approval of an agreement to contribute Right of Way (ROW) funds (Fixed Price) for

FM 664 ROW acquisition between the City of Waxahachie and TXDOT. I know a lot of folks have been waiting in anticipation of getting Ovilla Rd. widened.  The 2025 bid shall include 4 lanes divided by a median with space to expand 2 additional lanes within the median.  The ROW acquisition is planned to be completed by mid-2023.  The memo states TXDOT has compensated the city for the ROW acquisition obtained through the plat process as part of this agreement.  

I'm wondering: 
A - If the city was compensated for ROW acquisition through platting, were those funds put into the general fund ?  If not, shouldn't those funds in that specific account go toward this?
B - Will eminent domain be used at all in this project?
C - It says that this is a fixed cost so that TXDOT can't come back and ask for more, but will the city be repaid unused funds should the actual costs be less?

******** 19 - PUBLIC HEARING and CONSIDER proposed resolution adopting PROCEDURES TO NAME PUBLIC FACILITIES *********
From the way things are listed on the agenda, it is expected that Council will be making a decision Tuesday night!  PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE show up and give your input on this very important matter. If you cannot make it then please contact your Council before Tuesday afternoon.  Emails can be found here: https://www.waxahachie.com/government/city_council/index.php

Why is this such a big deal?  Because when we have city facilities, these buildings represent Waxahachie and should be around for many, many years.  People will refer to these buildings by name and it is very important, at least to me, that we do not take this issue lightly.

It is no secret that Mayor Pro Tem Wright wants to name the new City Hall Annex for Chuck Beatty.  I have nothing against Mr. Beatty at all.  In fact, he was probably the ONLY person during my first year on Council that even maintained a modicum of friendliness toward me.  I have always treated him with respect (as I do everyone) and like him as a person.  I think he's done great things with the Scouts, football and his long service to Waxahachie as a Council Member and Mayor is a wonderful thing.  That being said, I still do not like the idea of naming municipal facilities after people at all.  Some will say that the precedent was already set with the Sokoll Water Plant, but to me, what's done was done.  I have ONLY heard wonderful things about Mr. Sokoll and he was probably a fantastic person to have a municipal building named for, I just don't think the city should be in the business of spending taxpayer funds in that manner or making that decision for the residents.

If the Council decides that they ARE going to name city facilities for people, then I would absolutely like them add one more procedure to the resolution: a criminal background check.  There have been other towns (the city attorney told me one, but I can't remember the name) where they named a building after someone and then that person did something illegal (sorry, I can't remember what the crime was either lol). Anyway, that opens a whole can of worms and looks bad on the city.  If a criminal background check was done, I would request that anything over a traffic-ticket-level crime disqualify the proposed naming applicant.

Item E on the Resolution is regarding a public hearing to solicit feedback of the general public. I would like for this resolution to specifically say that the public hearing will be at the council meeting BEFORE the council meeting when the naming resolution is to be voted on (and most likely approved). 
 
Item G: "The City Council retains the absolute discretion to deny the naming request, or to name the eligible City-owned facility to a name of the City Council's choosing."   The underlined and bold part needs to be taken out in my opinion.  My reasoning is simple.  What's the point of even having a public hearing soliciting feedback if the Council can just do whatever it wishes with 3 people agreeing?  In a town of 44,000+ people... it takes THREE to approve any ordinance...  Let that sink in.  

Item H: "Nothing in this resolution shall prohibit the City from naming City-owned facilities which are not subject to this resolution through any other process that the City determines should be utilized."  Why is this even in here?  As is true the last item, it pretty much nullifies any resident input whatsoever.

It's okay if we agree or if we disagree on this issue - or any issue for that matter, but PLEASE have input on this and either be at the meeting Tuesday night or contact your city Council members beforehand.
 
Please come to the meeting.  I plan to be there.  Whatever is decided Tuesday night will effect us for many years to come.  If you are unable to come in person, you can watch the live-stream at the following link: https://www.waxahachie.com/government/city_council/city_council_meeting_live_stream.php
 
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Thursday, July 7, 2022
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8:30 AM - Cemetery Board Regular Meeting
Council Conference Room, City Hall
401 S. Rogers St.


2 - Public Comments

4 - Hear update on Cemetery vandalism

5 - Discuss Cemetery activities

This is a public meeting and you're welcome to attend, but it will not be live-streamed.
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3:00 PM  - Park Board Regular Meeting
Council Conference Room, City Hall
401 S. Rogers St.


2 - Public Comments

4 - Discuss park events and activities

5 - Hear update on park projects

This is a public meeting and you are welcome to attend, but it is not live-streamed at this time.
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4:30 PM - Keep Waxahachie Beautiful (KWB) Committee Regular Meeting
Council Conference Room, City Hall
401 S. Rogers St.


2 - Public Comments

4 - Discuss and consider PIN (Pride In Neighborhood) Award

5 - Discuss KWB events and activities

You are welcome to attend this public meeting, but it is not live-streamed at this time.
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THANK YOU  
to all who made it through this lengthy newsletter!  I appreciate your interest and care for what goes on in Waxahachie!

I hope that everyone has a happy and safe 4th and a wonderful week ahead!

Your Friendly Neighbor, 

Melissa Olson
(text) 817-507-5162
olsonfortexas@gmail.com
at

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