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Min 09/13/2016 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES September 13, 2016 Page 1 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES Wichita Falls, Texas Memorial Auditorium Building September 13, 2016 Item 1 - Call to Order The City Council of the City of Wichita Falls, Texas met in special session on the above date in the Council Chambers of the Memorial Auditorium Building at 8:30 o’clock a.m., with the following members present. Glenn Barham - Mayor DeAndra Chenault - Councilors Stephen Santellana - Tom Quintero - Michael Smith - Brian Hooker - Tim Ingle - Darron Leiker - City Manager Kinley Hegglund - City Attorney Tracy Norr - City Clerk - - - - - - - - Mayor Barham called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. - - - - - - - - Item 2a - Invocation Councilor Santellana gave the invocation. - - - - - - - - Item 2b - Pledge of Allegiance Mayor Barham led in the Pledge of Allegiance. - - - - - - - - Item 4 - Comments from the Public to Members of the City Council Concerning Items That Are Not on the City Council Agenda. 8:32:16 AM There were no citizen comments given. - - - - - - - CITY COUNCIL MINUTES September 13, 2016 Page 2 Item 3 – Public Hearing on the Proposed Property Tax Rate for the 2016 -2017 Fiscal Year Mayor Barham opened the public hearing at 8:32:28 AM. Jim Dockery said this is the second of two required public hearings on the proposed property tax rate. He noted there would also be a public hearing held at the next meeting on the budget. He explained that the proposed tax rate is the rollback tax rate, which is the highest tax rate that could be adopted without the possibility of a rollback election. He said staff needs direction on any amendments to the proposed budget. Darron Leiker said the preliminary budget calls for the same tax rate. Positions have been eliminated and the budge t was reduced by $6.1 million. A 1.5 percent cost of living adjustment was included in the proposed budget. Erica Persaud, 2005 W enonah Avenue, said she believes in support taxation. She reviewed the uses for property taxes and asked that collected p roperty taxes be used strategically to improve the quality of life for the residents and to improve the infrastructure. She noted that some of the infrastructure is antiquated. She said there is an unhealthy focus on replacing the water meters rather than replacing water and sewer lines. She said safety and security are good. The police department is one of the finest in the state. She said cameras are needed on other streets and alleyways. She said the residents across the city must benefit from the taxes. Mayor Barham explained that the city does not use speed cameras. The cameras at intersections are associated with the signals only. Jim Dockery explained the new water meters and how they are being financed. Darron Leiker added that the new mete r system is budget neutral and does not take money from the infrastructure repair funds. Mike Mulliniks, 1918 Speedway, said he meets retirees from Wichita Falls who have left the city because of the tax rate. He said we need to be careful with the taxes. Mayor Barham clarified that the proposed budget was submitted at the same tax rate as last year. The city has had very limited tax increases over the years; most tax increases are due to property value increases. The proposed tax rate was set at the maximum to allow the council room to discuss needs that were not included in the proposed budget, such as employee health insurance. He said he does not support the maximum tax rate. He also stated that sales tax revenues have been down. Discussion was held about property taxes, property values, and sidewalk ownership and maintenance. Councilor Santellana thanked the citizens for their comments. He thanked staff for the work on the budget. He said the council is doing what they can to be good stew ards. Councilor Hooker agreed that the staff did a good job. He thanked the citizens for their comments. He said he likes the proposed tax rate. Councilor Smith said cutting 21 positions is unusual and this has been a difficult budget. There are a lot of things we would like to see improved, but the budget relies on property taxes and sales taxes for revenues. He said he is disappointed we couldn’t do more for the employees. He said Wichita Falls is one of the least costly places to live. Councilor Ingle clarified that $5 million of the $6 million was a one -time radio project. He thanked staff for digging deep in the budget cuts. He noted that most of the budget pays for employees, but you wouldn’t have a city without the employees. He agreed th is has been a tough budget. He said he is happy with the tax rate where it is. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES September 13, 2016 Page 3 Councilor Chenault thanked the citizens. She added her thanks to the staff and council for the hard work on the budget. Councilor Quintero said he isn’t necessarily a fan of taxes. He said the council hasn’t really discussed a pay increase for the staff. People are the greatest asset as well as the greatest expense. He said he hopes that the cuts did not result in people losing jobs but that the employees were able to mig rate to different positions. He said Wichita Falls is very unique and he appreciates being here. He said the council may need to look at small tax increases to keep the city beautiful and safe. He would like to reward the staff who have worked with minimal increases in their salaries for several years. Mayor Barham said the council can’t do their jobs if the public doesn’t express their concerns. He thanked those who spoke during the meeting. There were no further comments and the public hearing was closed at 9:23:00 AM. - - - - - - - Item 5 –Items of Concern to Members of the City Council This item was not heard. - - - - - - - Item 6 – Executive Session City Council went into Executive Session at 9:23:16 AM in accordance with Texas Government Code §551.074. City Council reconvened at 12:58 PM. Mayor Barham announced that no polls or votes were taken during Executive Session. - - - - - - - - Item 7 - Adjourn City Council adjourned at 12:58 PM . PASSED AND APPROVED this 20th day of September, 2016. __________________________________ Glenn Barham, Mayor ATTEST: ____________________________________ Tracy B. Norr, TRMC/MMC, City Clerk