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2011-09-12 CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARING MEETING MINUTESMINUTES OF A PUBLIC HEARING OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PEARLAND, TEXAS, HELD ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2011, AT 6:30 P.M. IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, 3519 LIBERTY DRIVE, PEARLAND, TEXAS. Mayor Reid called the meeting to order at 6:43 p.m. with the following present: Mayor Tom Reid Mayor Pro -Tem Ed Thompson Councilmember Woody Owens Councilmember Scott Sherman Councilmember Felicia Harris Councilmember Susan Sherrouse City Manager Bill Eisen City Attorney Darrin Coker City Secretary Young Lorfing Others in attendance: Jon Branson Assistant City Manager; Vance Riley Director of Fire Chief; J.C. Doyle Police Chief; Trent Epperson Project Director; Bonita J. Hall Director of Human Resources and Safety Management; Mike Hodge Assistant City Manager; Narciso Lira City Engineer; Claire Bogard Finance Director; Michelle Smith Director of Parks and Recreation; Kelly Sears Interim EMS Operations Director; Matt Buchanan President of Economic Development Corporation; Teresa Battenfield Assistant Project Director; Bob Pearce Purchasing Officer, PURPOSE OF HEARING PUBLIC COMMENT AND TESTIMONY REGARDING THE PROPOSED 2011 TAX RATE FOR THE 2011— 2012 BUDGET. Mr. Bill Eisen, City Manager. STAFF REVIEW OF THE PROPOSED 2011 TAX RATE FOR THE 2011— 2012 BUDGET. Mr. Bill Eisen, City Manager. City Manager Bill Eisen stated this is the fourth Public Hearing regarding the proposed Fiscal Year 2012 Budget. The current fiscal year tax rate is $0.6651 per $100 valuation and the proposed tax rate is $0.6851 per $100 valuation of real property which is a two cent increase. Mr. Eisen continued to provide Council with an overview of the proposed tax rate. CITIZEN COMMENTS: Charles McMurry, 5209 Spring Branch Drive, addressed Council and stated the City has adopted a budget which requires a tax rate increase. The tax rate is just one component of the taxes the citizens are required to pay. His concern is not the raise in the tax rate, but the fact that more and more of the taxes are going towards debt Page 1 of 3 9/12/2011 service. He is concerned that the City is choosing to continue to spend money on amenities that are wanted by a specific group of people. He is asking for the rate which is distributed to operations. The operations budget includes things that are not amenities, but are essentials such as streets and public works. Donna Chauvin, 3311 Churchill Road, addressed Council and stated she is concerned that the City is not going to have enough money for maintenance and general operations because the majority of the taxes are going to debt. On top of this there will be more money spent on parks which are luxuries. The citizens need people to run the essential services. The City needs to raise the taxes to cover operations, but it cannot afford the amenities of parks in the current economy. Kelly Moody, 3708 Pine Bark Ct., addressed Council and stated she is a member of the Parks, Recreation, and Beautification Board and has been involved in the Bond process. She has done her research and feels the City is doing the right thing by moving forward with the parks projects. These are voter approved projects that came from a city -wide master plan to improve the City. Mike Glendenning, 2507 Nicholas Drive, addressed Council and stated real Americans in this economy are hurting. He knows people in his neighborhood that have been out of work for months and cannot afford a tax rate increase. People are losing their houses and the City cannot collect taxes on foreclosed homes. COUNCIL /STAFF DISCUSSION: Mayor Reid stated the City is the second fastest growing community in the State of Texas and the fifteenth fastest in the United States. Rapid growth requires a lot of capital improvement that other cities do not have to do at this time. The City has done this to meet that growth and these improvements are being used on a daily basis. Councilmember Owens stated the City is pushing as much money as they can into the Public Works. This has been a bad year due to the weather and it is something that we will have to get through. There has also been new infrastructure that does not require as much to maintain. It is a problem, but it is being addressed by Staff. He agrees that this is not the best time to do the parks projects because the economy was a lot better when they were approved. This Council is working harder on this budget to make sure the dollars are utilized in the best way and will continue to do so. Councilmember Harris stated the City Manager's forecast for increasing the tax rate over the next few years and reducing the reserves below policy levels. This is largely based on the City Manager's analysis of the current financial situation of the City. This has driven her decision not to support the tax increase. She supports the parks projects, but does not support moving them ahead at this time due to the current economic situation. Page 2 of 3 9/12/2011 ADJOURNMENT: Meeting was adjourned at 7:18 p.m. Minutes approved as submitted and /or corrected this the 26 day of September, A.D., 2011. ATTEST: Si YoArgL.o g �R C Secr= ry Tom Reid Mayor Page 3 of 3 9/12/2011