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08-23-2007 (City Council) Minutes Wylie City Council CITY OF WYLIE Minutes Special Called Work Session Wylie City Council Thursday, August 23, 2007 - 6:00 pm Wylie Municipal Complex- Council Chambers 2000 Highway 78 North CALL TO ORDER Announce the presence of a Quorum. Mayor Mondy called the Special Called Meeting to order at 6:07 p.m. with the following Council members present: Mayor Pro Tern Red Byboth, Councilwoman Kathy Spillyards, Councilman Merrill Young, and Councilman Rick White. Councilman Carter Porter and Councilman David Goss were absent. Staff present were: City Manager, Mindy Manson; Assistant City Manager, Jeff Butters; Finance Director, Larry Williamson, and Secretary, Carole Ehrlich. REGULAR AGENDA Public Hearing 1. Conduct a Public Hearing on the proposed tax rate of $0.73325 for Fiscal Year 2007-2008. (L. Williamson, Finance Director) Staff Summary In accordance with the "Truth in Taxation" laws of the State of Texas, on August 14, 2007, the City Council took a roll call vote on the proposed tax rate and scheduled two public hearings on the tax rate. The first public hearing is to be held on August 23, 2007. The second public hearing is scheduled for August 28, 2007. The notice for the two public hearings was published in the McKinney Courier-Gazette and Rowlett News on August 16, 2007, and the Wylie News on August 22, 2007. The purpose of both public hearings is to give the taxpayers an opportunity to express their views on the tax rate. At the end of the second hearing, the City Council must set and announce the date, time, and place of the meeting at which it will vote on the final proposed tax rate. Currently the date has been set for September 11, 2007. Public Hearing Mayor Mondy opened the Public Hearing at 6:09 p.m. Minutes—August 23, 2007 Special Called Work Session Wylie City Council Page 1 Kathy Welp residing at 1508 Evelyne Ct. Wylie Texas addressed Council stating that she was not in favor of the proposed tax increase. She explained that she currently was employed for the City of Richardson and previously employed for the Murphy Economic Development Corporation and felt the taxes in Wylie were much higher than those in surrounding cities. Mayor Mondy clarified the comparative tax rates by stating that the City of Wylie had the lowest crime rate and the very best ISO (1) Fire rating. He explained that this was due to employing more police officers and fire fighters. He explained that in the past 10 years, the tax rate had only been increased one time without voter approval. He explained that the increase proposed this year was directly related to the voters approving bond issues in November of 2005 for new thoroughfares, new library, new recreation center, city hall and other infrastructure items. He stated that citizen approval was the driving force behind the increase in taxes. He explained that the City Council only provided the opportunity to vote on these propositions; the voters ultimately approved them. He thanked Ms. Welp for taking the time to come and address Council regarding the tax proposal explaining that most of the time the public did not voice their views. Mayor Mondy reported that there were some negotiations relating to retail that were being considered by WEDC, the City and retail developers to enhance the retail within Wylie and offset some of the ad valorem taxes. He explained that these types of negotiations took time but the City would see the results within a couple of years. He also mentioned the new sports facility that was in the planning stages. Ms. Welp replied that she voted against the bond program because it was going to raise taxes. She stated that she believed that leadership needed to come from the City Council to keep ad valorem taxes low. She stated that she had spoken during the public forum at the school district as well. Mayor Mondy explained that during the recent budget work sessions, options were discussed regarding the assistance of the 4A and 4B funds to buy down a portion of the tax rate. He stated that Council was cognizant of the need to find ways to keep the tax rate as low as possible. Ms. Welp asked Council if the City offered tax abatement to companies looking to reside in the City. She asked if the City did offer incentives, such as tax abatement, would those incentives cause higher taxes to residents and other businesses. Mayor Mondy replied that the City did not offer tax abatements. He explained that Wylie EDC did, in some cases, assist businesses with infrastructure to make it more lucrative to move in; however the cost of that assistance is weighted on the return the company will provide to the City in sales tax and ad valorem tax revenue; only if the return largely outweighs the expense are those incentives offered. Ms. Welp stated that working with the EDC for Murphy, she was aware of the confidentiality of negotiations, however she requested that Council share these negotiations with the public as much as possible, to allow the public to know the City is working with these retailers. Mayor Pro Tem Byboth reiterated the importance of Council's decision to turn the property at S.H. 544 and McCreary from residential to commercial, noting this was an important decision. He restated that these zoning issues and negotiations take time. He asked that residents be patient, explaining that retail comes from the main highways, such as George Bush Turnpike; retail will take some time to develop in Wylie. He commented that council members do not like paying ad valorem taxes anymore than other residents of Wylie. Marcia Rodriquez residing at 3300 Francis Drive, Wylie Texas addressed Council stating that she had just seen the public notice for the public hearing on the tax rate and noted that communication should be better to the residents of Wylie. She stated that the infrastructure in Wylie was lacking. She stated that she moved to Wylie five years ago and currently resides in the Creekside Estates subdivision. She stated that in her development, she has seen residents lose their homes due to builders allowing them to buy homes that were barely in their income bracket. She stated that these residents were not told the accurate tax amount that would be assessed on the property and some ended up losing their homes. She explained that the assessed values from the appraisal district were not in line with what the homes were selling for Minutes—August 23, 2007 Special Called Work Session Wylie City Council Page 2 and homes are not selling in the current soft market. She stated that she was opposed to the tax increase. Mayor Mondy asked what additional infrastructure she would like to see in Wylie. She stated that she wanted to see more infrastructures at the time of development. Mayor Mondy explained that roads and other infrastructure are not built until they are needed. He explained that every main thoroughfare in the City was funded but the construction had to be staggered to allow flow of traffic. He stated that the bond propositions were compiled by a citizen advisory committee before coming to Council for approval and call for the bond election. Ms. Rodriquez stated that she had attended those special meetings. Mayor Mondy reminded her of the decisions made during those meetings that she attended; the bond committee reviewed all assessment needs of the City and chose the most crucial items for recommendation to the Council. He explained that the Council gave the citizens the opportunity to decide if the propositions were important to them. He reported that he did not have before him the exact results of that election but the construction of a new library was one of the top vote getters. He explained that for every citizen of Wylie there is approximately one square foot in the proposed library. Ms. Rodriquez replied that in her opinion that was a worthy cause. He then stated that citizens were very much in favor of a $10 million dollar Recreation Center which garnered a large majority of the voters. Mayor Mondy asked Ms. Rodriguez if that too was a worthy cause. Ms. Rodriguez replied that yes it was a worthy cause. Mayor Mondy reported that the New City Hall was the one proposition that did not win by many votes. He stated that it was very much needed as the departments were moving out to portable buildings because of over crowding; but it was not considered as great a worthy cause. Ms. Rodriguez suggested postponing some of the bond issues for 5 years when funds might be more available. Mayor Mondy explained that the Council was informed by the financial analysts with the construction, management team that for every month the bond propositions are placed on hold an additional $60,000 in construction cost increases would occur. He explained that if the City waited on some of these projects for five years, the additional cost could be close to $6 million dollars. With no other citizens requesting to speak, Mayor Mondy closed the Public Hearing at 6;35 p.m. ADJOURNMENT With no other business before Council, Mayor Mondy adjourned the meeting at 6:37 p.m. Consensus of Council was to adjourn. V\•• • .•• •'•• ••`�% ('1'hdy, Mayor SEAL • ATTEST: .• Carole Ehrlich y Secretary Minutes—August 23, 2007 Special Called Work Session Wylie City Council Page 3