Tax rate set to continue downward trend
BY PHIL REYNOLDS SOUTH JETTY REPORTER

Two people showed up to watch and comment as city council members held public hearings on Port Aransas' proposed new tax rate and budget.

Randy Ricks attended the first public hearing, at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 23. Ricks did not comment during the hearing.

At the hearing at 5 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 27, Betsy Churgai urged council members to forego what she called a massive increase in taxes, saying "marginal residents" would not be able to afford it.

"I appreciate your efforts to do something with the (Nueces County) Appraisal Board," Churgai said, referring to the city's blanket appeal of this year's single-family property valuations before an appraisal review board.

"The budget is 25 percent higher this year," she said. "I ask you to be restrained - consider the people on the marginal level."

City Manager Michael Kovacs noted that the owners of an average Port Aransas home paid less in taxes each year from 2004 through 2007, and will pay only about $300 more this year. That's despite property values that have jumped incrementally in the past few years, he said.

(The Port Aransas tax rate in 2003-04 was 44 cents per $100 valuation, down from 47 cents per $100 valuation the year before. The current tax rate is 29.7 cents per $100 valuation; last year it was 37.8 cents per $100 valuation. The proposed 2007-08 tax rate is 28.577 cents per $100 valuation.)

Kovacs added that part of the saving to taxpayers came last year when city council members approved an increase to 20 percent the total amount of homestead exemption available to homeowners.

City Councilman Keith McMullin pointed out that much of the increase in next year's city budget will go to pay for street and drainage project bonds, which voters approved by a 3-1 margin in November.

The Aug. 23 hearing was combined with the single hearing on the city's Recreational Development Board's (RDB) budget. At that hearing, RDB chairman Francis Stokes noted that the council had approved money at its previous council meeting for utility placement associated with the Mercer House move. Stokes said he'd like to also ask the council for $58,000 to be used for a skateboard park at the Community Park, saying he was only trying to conserve RDB budget money.

"After swimming pool repairs, we will only have $93,000 in our reserve, which is less than in the past," Stokes said.

The pool at Community Park recently got a $108,000 overhaul that repaired cracking plaster and replaced some aging equipment.

"The pool is a big drain, though it's worth all we spend on it," Stokes said.

Councilman Bubba Jensen supported that, pointing out that RDC funds had been used in the past to buy a tractor that was used on the beach.

"(The city) has $250,000. Someone came to us for moral support and then asked for money," Jensen said, referring to a Port Aransas Preservation and Historical Association request for money to be used for the utilities needed to move the Mercer House.

"Now for this, I'm hearing we can't use the money for the RDC," Jensen said.

Kovacs said after paying for the Mercer House utilities, the city will have $119-$120,000 in its facilities fund, which is dedicated savings.

"If the council thinks it's a tourist related expense, you can pull that money out," he said.

"The logical way is to split it," said Councilman Keith Donley - let the RDC pay for half the skateboard facility, with the city budget picking up the other half.

A motion by McMullin to do that passed, with city Finance Director Judy Lyle saying a part of the sales tax, not the hotel-motel tax, is supposed to be used for the park.

"It might be a stretch, but I think it'll be OK," Lyle said.

During the city hearing, which followed the RDC hearing, Jensen complained that the council wasn't getting enough information about matters on which it was to decide.

"As a councilman, I have to get information for decisions, and my decisions are only as good as the information provided," he said.

Jensen said he felt when the city staff provides information on a council agenda item, he feels the information is often based on whether the staff likes the item.

"We should get all the information, regardless of what the provider feels about it," he said.

He said he and his neighbors (fellow council members) sit and spend their time, but get "some kind of information today and a different kind tomorrow."

"From this point forward, I demand that the information that is given to us be the whole information," he said.

Jensen complained that the matter of trash cans placed under leaks in the Civic Center roof had been brought up and dismissed at an earlier meeting; yet, when the council asked about giving the RDC $58,000, it was told repairs to the Civic Center would cost millions of dollars.

Kovacs said repairs to the roof had been done by the city staff.

"The council put (repairs to city hall and the Civic Center) out to the public (in a bond election in November), and they said no, so it hasn't been a priority," Kovacs said.

At the Aug. 23 hearing, Councilman Charles Bujan lectured residents who failed to show up at tax hearings, saying they need to become more involved in city decisions.

"If they're concerned, they should show up," Bujan said.

The council formally will consider the tax rate and budget at a special meeting at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 4, at the council chamber, 710 W. Ave. A.