BURTON CITY COUNCIL ADOPTS SUBDIVISION ORDINANCE, PROPOSES INCREASED TAX RATE
After discussions spanning back two years, the Burton City Council on Tuesday moved unanimously to adopt a subdivision ordinance.
The new regulations apply to all subdivisions, replats, amending plats, development plats, minor plats, vacation plats and other land divisions requiring approval through Texas Local Government Code. They are intended to coordinate public and private development with the available municipal infrastructure, protect public investments in said infrastructure, and promote efficient land use and orderly development.
Adoption followed a public hearing with ranging opinions presented by several citizens in attendance. Some who spoke encouraged the council to postpone adopting the ordinance until further discussions could be held with the public to minimize impacts on existing residents and avoid having to make changes to the ordinance later. Others felt that enough time had been spent on discussion and that now was the time for action.
The city’s talks on subdivision regulations date back to August 2024 and have resulted in lengthy, sometimes contentious debates. A subdivision ordinance committee was created last summer to review regulations of similar-size towns and provide recommendations on the types of land use regulations that would best fit the City of Burton.
A section of the ordinance for the engineering standards manual was taken out because of its scope and the need for further review, but will be added back later. As for how the ordinance will be enforced, the council expressed openness to working with Washington County Engineer Wesley Stolz to create a short-term interlocal agreement and see how that arrangement works for the city.
A copy of the subdivision ordinance can be seen here.
Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the council formally proposed a property tax rate of $0.4200 per $100 valuation, made up of $0.0900 for maintenance and operations (M&O) and $0.3300 for interest and sinking (I&S). The proposed rate is over 8 cents more than the current tax rate of $0.3363, which consists of $0.43823 for M&O and $0.292477 for I&S.
Washington County Chief Appraiser Dyann White said the calculated no-new-revenue rate is $0.3260, while the voter approval rate is $0.4740. She said at the proposed rate, the city would receive approximately $40,000 in additional tax income, which Mayor Karen Buck said would be important for planning proactive infrastructure improvements.
A public hearing for the proposed rate has been scheduled for Tuesday, September 8th at 5:30 p.m.
In other business, the council:
- Approved the replacement of the wastewater treatment plant pump for $5,739.
- Approved a contract through the Texas Water Development Board’s Water Utilities Technical Assistance Program.
- Accepted the 2025-26 Fiscal Year audit presented by Medack & Oltmann LLP.
- Authorized the closure of a segment of the state highway system in the downtown area for the Trick or Treat Trail on October 24th.
The council has called a special meeting for Tuesday, August 18th at 5:30 p.m. at Burton City Hall, with two items to be considered. The council will take up possible action on the final engineering report from AOKA Engineering about the city’s water system capacity and capability to serve the Burton ISD fire suppression line. It will then vote on a draft legal agreement between the city and Burton ISD regarding connecting the fire suppression line to the city’s water system and establishing related stipulations and requirements.