BURTON CITY COUNCIL PROPOSES INCREASED TAX RATE, APPROVES AGREEMENT WITH TEXAS A&M

  

The Burton City Council on Tuesday formally proposed a property tax rate that will be an increase from the current adopted rate if approved.

The proposed tax rate is $0.3363 per $100 valuation, up from the existing rate of $0.297267 per $100. 

The maintenance and operations (M&O) portion of the rate would come out to $0.043823, which is down slightly from the present M&O rate of $0.045349.  However, the new interest and sinking (I&S) side of the rate would be $0.292477, up roughly 4 cents compared to the current I&S rate of $0.251918.

The council’s discussion on the rate included the debt service payments that the city has been paying since 2016, as well as the addition of new payments stemming from water system improvements.

A public hearing on the tax rate will be held on Tuesday, September 9^th at 5:30 p.m. 

In other business, councilmembers approved an agreement with the Texas Target Communities Program at Texas A&M University.  The community engagement program works alongside local governments and stakeholders with a stated goal of helping communities become more equitable, resilient and adaptive.

The city will invite two “lab classes” into two over the next ten months, one in the fall and another in the spring.  The first class will study and map the city’s wastewater treatment system, with outcomes set to include their evaluations, suggestions and a mapping system.  The second class will learn more about the town and provide the city with information that can be used to update the city’s comprehensive plan.

Councilmembers also received an update on development continuing at the site of the city’s new water well.  The Stage 4 Drought Contingency Plan remains in effect this week.  A new monitoring system has been installed in the ground storage tank to allow utility officials to keep track of water levels for the town. 

A range of tests still needs to be run on the new well, which will mean the current well will need to be shut down for 36 hours.  The city has asked that the test be run on a weekend, so as not to interfere with school.  More information about the testing period will be sent to water customers in the coming days.

Additionally, the council-appointed subdivision committee has completed its work and sent recommendations to the city secretary for review.  The committee was created in June with the task of making recommendations for an ordinance regulating the subdivision of land and plats within the city.

Also in session, the council:

• Voted to hire Lampe Surveying for approximately $2,000 to survey land near Indian Creek to convey.  The property owner has agreed to pay for half of the survey.  
• Approved road closures for the Trick or Treat Trail on October 25^th from 5 to 8 p.m.
• Rescheduled the council’s regular meeting in November from Tuesday, November 11^th to Wednesday, November 12^th to avoid conflicts with Veterans Day.