The Snyder City Council gave preliminary approval to a tax increase and higher water and sanitation bills Monday.
The council voted to propose a tax rate of 48 cents per $100 valuation, an increase over the current rate of 47 cents and a nearly 3 cent increase over the effective rate, which would generate the same amount of ad valorem revenue as this year.
If formally adopted, the new rate will generate $175,555 in additional revenue for the general fund and help close what was projected to be a deficit. The remaining $193,000 deficit will likely be covered by drawing from city reserves, which are currently slightly more than $7.1 million, including restricted and unrestricted funds.
The council has public hearings scheduled for Aug. 13 and Aug. 19 to allow public input on the tax increase.
Meeting those dates will also cover the utility rate increases, which will total more than $10 per month for utility customers. That is in addition to any street maintenance fee that the council may adopt.
The council voted to issue $4.1 million in tax and revenue certificates to pay for upcoming water and sewer system projects. Those will be repaid over 20 years with funds from a $5.64 increase to customers’ base water bill.
Kirt Harle from Jacob and Martin said the projects include replacing 6,500 linear feet of water supply line, replacing collection lines, installing a sludge removal system at the “old” water treatment plant, rehabilitating the UV disinfection system at the wastewater treatment plant and interior and exterior work on the city’s water storage tanks.
The new fee will raise between $270,000 and $275,000, which is the current estimate for annual debt payments.
The city is also proposing to increase sanitation fees by $5 per month. The last increase was implemented in 2012. The increase will generate approximately $255,880 in additional revenue, which will be needed to help pay for the nearly $6 million in capital expenses at the landfill.
The idea of abolishing the Development Corporation of Snyder (DCOS) carried over from the public hearing into the regular meeting, with Mitch Hickman and Gayle Summers both raising questions about the effectiveness of the DCOS and whether the Snyder Chamber of Commerce should be providing hotel occupancy tax (HOT) funding for out-of-county events.
DCOS Executive Brooke Proctor told the council that she spoke to three businesses in the industrial park and railpark that the DCOS had recruited to Snyder. Combined, they employ 71 people with a total payroll of $4.7 million, she said.
Chamber president and CEO Linda Molina said the chamber board spoke to a lawyer with the Texas Hotel and Lodging Association who told them that there were no laws against providing HOT funds to out-of-county events, as long as they promoted tourism in the town or city providing the funds.
“It may be legal, but sometimes it doesn’t make sense to put money in another county,” Hickman said.
He suggested that out-of-county expenditures of HOT funds be brought before the council for public discussion and council approval.
Summers took it a step further.
“We are asking that the (chamber) board and city give funds to people in Snyder and Scurry County, that’s only logical. People are upset because giving money to out-of-county events,” she said.
The council also approved a $362,681 bid for a new fire truck to replace the truck that was destroyed by fire recently. According to Fire Chief Perry Westmoreland, the new truck, which will have the same specs as the previous truck, will take six to eight months to build.
The Texas Municpal League will reimburse the city for the truck and then pursue reimbursement for itself from the other parties involved.
Westmoreland said the department will also have to replace approximately $43,000 in equipment that was on the truck. Because it is currently being held by investigators, he said he had been unable to perform an inventory of that equipment.
Council members agreed to sell nine properties to the highest bidders from a recent online auction.
The properties were being sold to help cover tax and other liens placed by taxing entities. The high bids ranged from $175 to $4,326 and totaled $15,901.
The other taxing entities must also approve the sale before the deeds can be signed.
The council also approved the second and final reading of an ordinance update clarifying that property owners are responsible for keeping weeds mown to the middle of the alley and approved the monthly financial and investment reports.
The next council meeting will be Aug. 13 for a public hearing on taxes and the first reading of the budget, utility rates and taxes.
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