Your Voice Has Been Heard: The Franklin Compromise

In a fantastic display of representative government, the Public Hearing on the proposed Property Tax increase came to a close Tuesday evening.

Town Hall had plenty of Coppell citizens out in force to voice their opposition to the proposed Property Tax increase.

In what looks like "The Franklin Compromise", City Council listened to citizen after citizen voice their opposition to a proposed property tax increase.  If you remember from the 8/25 meeting, Marvin Franklin was the only City Council member in opposition to a Property Tax increase, as well as Mayor Peters.

Mayor Peters stated that their were 23 signed up to speak in opposition and 1 in favor.

Before the floor was opened to the public, Mayor Jayne Peters and City Manager Clay Phillips opened with comments.  Mayor Peters made a statement to "get the facts straight about the Northlake development".

Mr. Phillips (picture on left) discussed in detail how the City got to where it is now with our General Fund and fiscal stability.

 As each speaker expressed their opposition to the increase in Property Taxes, there was applause by the majority of the room.

After all the speakers were heard, Mayor Peters declared it was 'time for City Council deliberation and discussion'.

In what appears to be a 5-2 majority, City Council has listened to the citizens and is prepared to not raise taxes for the '09-'10 budget.  There was general concern that there would be a need to raise taxes the following year to pay down the Northlake bond.

I was using Twitter to update live and capture comments from the meeting.  Thanks to the City of Coppell for streaming the meetings live from their City website.  I was able to participate in this meeting while being out of town on a business meeting.

If you would like to read all of the detail of last night's meeting, go to www.twitter.com/concerncoppell.

Great job Coppell!  Last night was a great example of how representative government works and thank you Marvin Franklin and Mayor Jayne Peters for their leadership, as well as all of City Council for listening and understanding the right course of action.

The actual vote is on September 8th.  Stay tuned and thank you for all of the comments on the blog.  More to come on Stay Informed in Coppell!

The Final Public Hearing is TONIGHT (Tuesday) at 6pm!

Just a reminder that tonight (Tuesday, 9/1) is the Final Public Hearing on the proposed Property Tax increase for the '09-'10 budget.

The agenda is here (.pdf)

I know there's conflicts with some of CISD's curriculum nights, so I'm sure we won't have as many tonight as were there last week.

I hope that you can make it.

It is an earlier start...6p. I would expect the meeting is around 2 hours.

Be sure to follow the Twitter account at www.twitter.com/concerncoppell. I'll be updating live via Twitter.

Last Night's City Council Meeting/Public Hearing - Part 2

READ PART 1 HERE

The Public Hearings were now closed and it was time to hear from our elected officials.

I wish I had a transcript of this discussion, but I just don't have the time to go back and listen to the live feed (anyone interested in taking on that project for me???? nudge nudge!!).

What I was able to do was use the Twitter account to provide live feedback. If you don't know about Twitter, I highly recommend you sign up, get a free account and follow @concerncoppell. If that is too much to do, then just save the website bookmark and read frequently.

Billy Faught was the first to speak and he thanked everyone for taking time out of their day and evening to join in this discussion. The citizen's didn't seem to care for his comment Faught: I'm not sure where to go from here. This was a forum for the citizens to discuss. I agree w many of you that this is a hard time

about 11 hours ago from Tweetie
One resident was very frustrated by Mr. Faught's comments that she publicly disagreed with Mr. Faught's comments and left the room. Obviously an awkward moment for the room, Mr. Faught commented, "maybe if I talk longer, everyone will leave". It was definitely said in humor to help the room.
One by one, the City Council members spoke.
Some highlights from the council members that are obviously in favor of some type of tax increase:Mahalik: hate to tell you, but the school system is going to raise taxes on you double digits. u want quality of life, you have to pay 4 it
Faught: we are trying to make right decisions for the future. there are no conspiracies here.
Mahalik: now is the time for hard decisions. we will compromise, i'm sure we will. taxes are coming, it is a matter of when
Tunnell: every meeting is public and you are invited to join us. we have projects that we haven't done so we didn't have to raise taxes
Tunnell: you need to take those $15M of expenses and consider them with Northlake.
Tunnell: we will raise taxes.
Brancheau: we decided last night that we are going to have raise taxes. robbing peter to pay paul isn't the way to run a government
Brancheau: I hope we have the political will to follow through with our agreement to raise taxes
Hunt: we did decide as a group that we will have to raise taxes. we know what deficits are coming.
Hunt: I appreciate all of the additional comments and discussion from the citizens. there won't be 'no new tax'.
Hinojosa-Flores: thank you for being here. i took a paycut last year and i understand about no higher taxes. i hear you loud and clear
Hinojosa-Flores: maybe this isn't the year to raise salaries. maybe next year.
Council Member Franklin was the only member to voice an opinion in opposition to the tax rate increase next year. Some highlights:Franklin: there wasn't a lot of communication at the last meeting. it deserves discussion.
Franklin: we are here to serve and protect you. to help enhance your quality of life. lets state some facts. we have ways to be creative
Franklin: we do not need to raise taxes next year if we are creative. we can do this. i am firm in that. we can keep taxes flat.
Franklin: we are going to have to pay our debt. we will. i don't subscribe to the notion that citizens will forget about Northlake
Franklin: one of the scenarios that city staff put together was a zero increase. it is prudent. we can do it. the risk is marginal.
Franklin: right now, plain 'ol fiscal prudence is necessary. our resources are our people.
Franklin: i will not support any tax increase. [APPLAUSE!!]

Mayor Peters then closed down the meeting with these comments:

Mayor Peters: Representative government is a good thing and our citizens should feel proud about their voice.

Mayor Peters: Ditto to Council Franklin's comments and statements. We don't have to raise taxes next year. And we shouldn't.

Mayor Peters: Next public meeting is September 1st with the vote on September 8th

Some final thoughts I have about last night probably could be summed up by a short conversation I had with a local Coppell newspaper Citizens Advocate's Editor, Jean Murph.

She was sitting next to me at the back of the room and asked me something like, was I happy with Monday night's budget workshop meeting?

My response was something like, 'well, I wouldn't say I was happy about it because all of City Council didn't flush out the final issues that taxes didn't need to be raised next year.'

Then, and this is where it became clear to me why I've been passionate about getting involved with our Municipal government....Ms. Murph asked me why I didn't feel like this issue had been discussed properly, because tonight was the first Public Hearing to do just that.

Reflecting on this question last night and this morning, it hit me that if the citizen's of Coppell hadn't been informed, hadn't had good discussion before Tuesday night's meeting, there was a good chance their voices could not have been heard.

Yes, the City of Coppell does post all of the public meetings on their website the way they need to, but information travels in ways that isn't just one way and as busy as most people are with school starting, there is only so much you can keep up with about every detail.

In fact, that is why we elect City Council members to do this work for us. To keep up with the issues, to understand all the details and represent us.

So my thoughts have come down to a few questions and statements:

If last night was the first Public Hearing...the first night that City Council could hear from the people that elected them, why did Council Member Brancheau say there was an agreement after Monday night's special budget workshop meeting with at least 4 City Council members to raise taxes?

Was the decision to raise taxes going to be made without any public input from the Public Hearings?

Did last night's meeting matter to the majority of our City Council?

What if only a few citizen's were at last night's meeting and didn't know about this until after it was voted and passed on September 8th?

Thank you Marvin Franklin and Mayor Peters for your thought process about next year's taxes.

If it isn't necessary to raise them next year, why would they be raised?

It seems that our Councilmember's need to realize and appreciate public opinion. This type of debate is healthy and necessary to keep the interests of our City at the forefront.

If any City Council members were aggravated or irritated about the amount of people in the room or the applause for speakers opposing a tax rate increase or the freedom to wear a T-Shirt that say's "No New Taxes", then I would ask those City Council members why chose to be elected and why they choose to serve our city and our citizens.

This is one man's opinion, but after speaking and hearing from so many of you, I know I am not alone.

The next Public Hearing is September 1st at 6p. Be there.

Last Night's City Council Meeting/Public Hearing - Part 1

Tuesday, 8/25/09 at 730pm, City Council began their meeting (agenda).

The Executive Session/Workshop began at 530p.

Two items on the agenda were designated "Public Hearing"; Item #12 was the proposed '09-'10 budget and Item #13 was the proposed Property Tax increase for the '09-'10 budget.

The room was a standing room only crowd. There were over 100 people that had to stand and then city employees brought out chairs for the outside of city hall for people to sit.

There were plenty of people that had worn their "No New Taxes" white T-Shirts and all ages, men and women proudly displayed their displeasure with City Council's proposed Property Tax increase.

I would estimate that there were over 200 people at the meeting, but I admit, I didn't get a chance to count all of the chairs at the beginning of the meeting to figure out the seating capacity (could someone from the City email me this number?!).

Before the Public Hearing began, Mayor Peters told the room that there was a 60 minute time limit on Item #12 and Item #13 for citizen's comments. She asked for a motion to extend the one hour time block and no City Council member asked for motion to be passed. Mayor Peters explained that each speaker could have up to 5 minutes, but keeping it to the point and taking less than 5 minutes per speaker would allow for more people to speak.

The Public Hearing began and the first citizen to address City Council was a business owner; 'raise taxes and we lose business'.

After each citizen spoke in opposition to the Property Tax increase, there was applause from the crowd. Mayor Peters, repeatedly requested that the applause be kept to a minimum after the speakers or not applaud as a matter of decorum. It was apparent that the applause was irritating a few City Council members, especially Marsha Tunnell and Billy Faught.

Speaker after speaker, citizen after citizen stories were told to the City Council. Stories of how a downturn in the economy has lead to lost jobs, reduced pay and reduced family expenses. Business owners told stories of how the downturn has lead to reducing their staff and cutting expenses. Some tears were shed with some speakers telling their stories of husband's losing jobs and what sacrifices their families had to make over the past year.

There was a shift in the citizen's comments from personal stories of how the economy has hit them, to more focus on what has the City done to trim and cut expenses like the rest of the citizens have had to. The blue signs that have been erected in the city took more than one hit as poor spending as well as the new lit street signs on the traffic lights.

One resident, dedicated his yesterday to read over the 287 page budget to figure out how the city has trimmed expenses to justify a tax increase. He said he couldn't find them.

As the public hearings came to a close, there was anticipation from the room to hear what the City Council members had to say. It seemed fitting that Councilmember Tunnell moved to close discussion on Item #13 as she repeatedly leaned over to ask Mayor Peters to remind the citizens to stop applauding. The allotted time had expired and now, it was time to hear from our elected officials.

Read the details of last night's meeting at the @concerncoppell Twitter feed

Full pictures on Flickr page

Part 2 to follow soon.

NO NEW TAXES T-Shirt

Would you like to wear how you feel around town?

Email CitizensforCoppell@verizon.net to reserve your shirt. Shirts will be approximately $3 + tax.

Next Tuesday, 8/25 at 7p at the City Council meeting would be a fantastic time to wear your new T-Shirt!

**We will be collecting the information of all citizens that would like a t-shirt and placing an order as needed next week. If City Council and staff decide to listen to the the citizens of Coppell and decide to adopt a new budget with no property tax increases, we won't place the order.

You will receive and email soon as to your order!!

Be sure to stay connected at www.concernedcitizen75019.blogspot.com and email City Council your thoughts at citycouncil@ci.coppell.tx.us

Please Plan to Attend! Tuesday, 8/25 at 730p!

The citizen's of Coppell should plan on attending the next City Council "Public Hearing"! This will be a bit of a challenge with school starting the Monday before, so put it in your calendar now.

Here's the information directly from the City of Coppell's website:

Notice of Public Hearing on Tax Increase

The City of Coppell will hold two public hearings on a proposal to increase total tax revenues from properties on the tax roll in the preceding tax year by 5.36 percent (percentage by which proposed tax rate exceeds lower of rollback tax rate or effective tax rate calculated under Chapter 26, Tax Code). Your individual taxes may increase at a greater or lesser rate, or even decrease, depending on the change in the taxable value of your property in relation to the change in taxable value of all other property and the tax rate that is adopted.

The first public hearing will be held on August 25, 2009 at 7:30 PM at Town Center, 255 Parkway Blvd, Coppell,TX 75019

The second public hearing will be held on September 1, 2009 at 6:00 PM at Town Center, 255 Parkway Blvd, Coppell, TX 75019

The members of the governing body voted on the proposal to consider the tax increase as follows:

FOR: Tim Brancheau, Robert Mahalik, Marsha Tunnell, Billy Faught, Marvin Franklin
AGAINST: None
PRESENT and not voting: N/A
ABSENT: Brianna Hinojosa-Flores, Karen Hunt

The average taxable value of a residence homestead in City of Coppell last year was $272,101. Based on last year's tax rate of $0.64146 per $100 of taxable value, the amount of taxes imposed last year on the average home was $1,745.42.

The average taxable value of a residence homestead in City of Coppell this year is $272,478. If the governing body adopts the effective tax rate for this year of $0.65628 per $100 of taxable value, the amount of taxes imposed this year on the average home would be $1,788.22

If the governing body adopts the proposed tax rate of $0.69146 per $100 of taxable value, the amount of taxes imposed this year on the average home would be $1,884.08.

Members of the public are encouraged to attend the hearings and express their views.

2009 Property Tax Rates

Follow updates on Twitter: www.twitter.com/concerncoppell

Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=114536321191&ref=ts

Has Your Voice Been Heard?

I have heard so many disappointed by City Council's decision to raise taxes. There are phone calls, emails, discussions in front yards, in the coffee shops and at grocery stores...this is good. We need to stay informed and talk with each other, share our thoughts and understand the issues!

Communication is good.

We also need to let our elected officials know your thoughts; regardless if you are disappointed, confused, angered or happy with the job that is being done.

What should you do?

Email and call your City Council members what you feel and think.

Here's how to get a hold of your elected officials:

Main email address: citycouncil@ci.coppell.tx.us

Main fax #: 972 304-3673

Main phone #: 972 462-0022

Mayor: Jayne Peters

c: 972 304-0370

e: jpeters@ci.coppell.tx.us

Mayor Pro-Tem, Place 7: Karen Hunt

c: 214 724-6457

e: khunt@ci.coppell.tx.us

Place 1: Tim Brancheau

c: 214 724-8651

tbrancheau@ci.coppell.tx.us

Place 2: Bob Mahalik

c: 214 724-9851

e: rmahalik@ci.coppell.tx.us

Place 3: Brianna Hinojosa-Flores

c: 214 724-9008

e: Bhinojosa-flores@ci.coppell.tx.us

Place 4: Marsha Tunnell

c: 214 724-0685

e: mtunnell@ci.coppell.tx.us

Place 5: Billy Faught

c: 214 724-9096

e: bfaught@ci.coppell.tx.us

Place 6: Marvin Franklin

c: 214 724-0683

e: mfranklin@ci.coppell.tx.us

Also, be sure to read Former Mayor Candy Sheehan's posting here. She has a Call to Action for the city as well.

Twitter: www.twitter.com/concerncoppell

Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=114536321191&ref=ts