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It appears the proposed property rate tax increase is going to be a contentious issue.
At Tuesday’s Coppell City Council meeting, Coppell Town Center was crowded with more than 150 people, many of whom openly protested, wearing T-shirts that read, “No New Taxes!!”
During the first of two public hearings, the standing-room-only crowd overwhelmingly opposed the increase and implored city leaders to not raise taxes.
The second hearing is scheduled 6 p.m. Sept. 1 at Coppell Town Center.
“This is not the time to raise taxes,” resident Nick Brounoff told city leaders. “We need to be tightening our belts and watching our expenses.”
The proposed 5-cent increase in the tax rate, or 7 percent, is intended to pay down debt service from the sale of $26.5 million in bonds from the purchase of 468 acres land at North Lake.
Residents suggested alternatives to raising taxes, including cutting unnecessary expenses such as signage, city events and holiday decorations, and paying off the North Lake debt with existing funds, such as the general fund balance.
The general fund balance, which includes $16 million of undesignated funds, is used for operations, maintenance, services and programs. Each year, the city’s leftover budgeted funds go back into the fund balance, City Manager Clay Phillips said. And this year, the city will have an excess of expenditures, which will go into that account, he said.
“A lot of blood, sweat and tears went into the reserving of those funds during our great times, when tax revenues were going up significantly,” resident Cliff Long said during the public forum. “But we knew that at some point in time there was going to be an abatement of that increase.
“If we wanted to maintain the quality of life here and continue with the services that we have here, something was going to have to be done. One of those tools was the reserve of funds that we could use somewhere in the future.”
Nonetheless, the majority of council members expressed the need for an increased property tax rate to pay down the North Lake debt. Opinions on the time frame and percentage of the increase varied.
“The taxes are going to be raised. They have to be raised. We have issued debt – the largest amount of debt we ever had in one time,” councilwoman Marsha Tunnell said. “I don’t know how much … and I don’t know when. But we don’t have the luxury of sitting on this kind of debt. We don’t have the growth we have had in the past to absorb this.”
At the council’s budget work session, five alternative taxing options were brought up. One of the options called for a 2.5 percent increase next year and another 2.5 percent increase the following year, which is the option most people landed on, Mayor Jayne Peters said.
But councilman Marvin Franklin was not one of them.
“We don’t need new taxes this year – that’s where I stand,” he said. “With a plan I think we can, yes, we keep taxes flat, and we can still pursue our long-term goals. But we pay our bills, and we’re going to have to pay for this North Lake debt. You’re going to have to work with us to get that debt paid for. We don’t have a choice.”
For your info
Blogger Todd Storch Twittered council updates during Tuesday’s meeting. Check out his blog, concernedcitizen75019.blogspot.com, or read his Tweets at twitter.com/concerncoppell.
Lindsey Bever is a reporter with neighborsgo and can be reached at 972-436-5551 ext. 3004 or via e-mail at lbever@neighborsgo.com. If you have a story, photo or video you'd like to share, please post it directly on neighborsgo.com.
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