Coppell Residents speak out against tax increase - Coppell Gazette, 9/6/09

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Coppell Residents speak out against tax increase

By Jim Kilpatrick, Staff Writer

Published: Sunday, September 6, 2009 12:19 PM CDT

More than 70 Coppell residents spoke out against the proposed 2009-2010 municipal budget and the 2009-2010 proposed tax rate of .69146 at the regular meeting of the Coppell city council Aug. 25.

The meeting ran three hours and 51 minutes with residents speaking for more than two hours. No one spoke in favor of either item during the public hearing.

Dave Capps, a 23-year resident and businessman was concerned that the tax rate is too high. He said he paid more than $50,000 in taxes last year for his home and business.

“I am sure there are plenty of items in the budget that the city of Coppell is working very diligently to make cuts on during this recession. If not there should be,” Capps said.

Former Coppell mayor Mark Wolfe said he has supported every bond election for the city and school district since he moved to Coppell.

“For the first time in 30 years as a resident of this community I find myself opposed to my local government,” Wolfe said.

Senior citizens said they are on a budget and even a small tax increase would be a burden. Others said it was not the time for a tax increase.

After more than two hours the hearings were closed and council discussed what they had heard from the residents.

Billy Faught, Place 5, thanked the residents for coming out and expressing their feelings.

“There have been several comments made tonight that I agree with,” Faught said. “I feel it is a time to make some tough decisions.”

Faught ended by saying the council is listening, and “this is not a done deal.”

“Coppell has always been a paid-as-we-go city,” said Bob Mahalik, councilman Place 2. “We can’t avoid taxes completely. It is going to happen; it’s just how much and when.” He added that the council will compromise.

Marsha Tunnell, Place 4, said the council has been meeting on the budget for most of the year.

“The taxes are going to be raised, they have to be raised,” Tunnell said. “I don’t know how much, but they will be raised, but I don’t when.”

She added that the timing for a tax increase isn’t good.

“We (the council) agreed that no matter what path we take we will have to raise taxes,” said Tim Brancheau, councilman Place 1. “I hope that we have the political will as a group to follow through with our agreement.”

Mayor Pro Tem Karen Hunt said she has not made up her mind about what should be done about the tax rate increase.

“I do appreciate all the information I have gotten from citizens, and all the additional perspectives that I’ve heard,” Hunt said. “Because it does help me navigate through this decision.”

She said she has “flip-flopped” back and forth on how she feels about the tax rate.

“Have I made up my mind (on the tax rate)? I am not sure.” Hunt said. “There won’t be (any) new tax; it’s when will there be a tax, because we need it.”

Brianna Hinajosa-Flores, Place 3, appreciated the input from the residents.

“I have read your emails and I have heard your comments I hear you loud and clear,” Hinajosa-Flores said. “I have wrestled with it and it is a difficult decision.”

Hinajosa-Flores added that no one wants higher taxes.

Marvin Franklin, Place 6, said there was not a lot of communication regarding the tax increase.

“Taxes are an issue that affects everyone, whether you are rich, poor, or middle income, and it deserved all the discussion it’s getting,” Franklin said.

Franklin added that the council needs to be creative when it comes to the budget and tax rate.

“We do not need a tax increase this year to pay all our bills for the longer term and to have a healthy fund balance,” Franklin said. “That is where I stand and I am firm in that.”

He added that the council is there to serve and protect the residents of Coppell.

“We still are going to have to pay this North Lake debt.” Franklin said.

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!

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Coppell weighs tax increase for North Lake land debt

10:53 PM CDT on Saturday, August 29, 2009

By BRANDON FORMBY / The Dallas Morning News
bformby@dallasnews.com

The Coppell City Council is considering raising residents' property tax rate as much as 5 cents – but the city isn't in financial straits.

City services aren't being threatened. Staffers aren't facing pink slips. And the general fund has a healthy surplus.

The council is trying to figure out the best way to begin paying down $26.5 million in bond debt from the purchase of land outside the city limits. It's the same land that voters overwhelmingly approved buying in 2006.

"The only reason there's a question about raising taxes on the table is the North Lake debt service," City Manager Clay Phillips said.

Almost everyone on the council agrees that at some point the city will have to raise taxes to pay down the debt. Some favor phasing in a five-cent increase over two years.

The question at ongoing council meetings is whether to increase taxes this year as residents muddle through a historic recession – especially when their past tax contributions have created a $10 million general fund surplus that is not currently earmarked for other expenditures.

The council is to have a public hearing on the matter Tuesday. It's scheduled to vote on the final rate on Sept. 8.

At last Tuesday's public hearing, more than 150 residents packed the council chambers to show their disdain for higher taxes. Many wore T-shirts that said, "No new taxes."

But some residents say it's not just a possible tax increase that has them stirred up. They say a majority of council members haven't publicly discussed the matter enough.

They wonder whether the issue would be on the table if the next council election wasn't more than 18 months away. And they accuse officials of making up their minds before hearing from residents.

Talks of a recall effort have already begun.

North Lake is just north of LBJ Freeway, connected to Coppell by a small strip of land. But the property borders Coppell and Irving and is mostly in the Coppell school district. Coppell and its school district bought parcels of the land as part of settlement agreements stemming from their opposition to long-held plans for development in the area.

The city issued about $26.5 million in bonds last year to buy about 468 acres, all but about 100 acres of which is lake acreage. The annual payments for the debt are about $2.8 million.

Mayor Jayne Peters wants to hold off at least a year before raising taxes.

"With these economic times, do we need to be raising the tax rate?" she said. "Based on the fund balance, we can afford to absorb it."

But Peters will only get to vote on the matter if there's a tie. And so far, only council member Marvin Franklin has publicly voiced opposition to raising taxes.

The current tax rate is 64.146 cents per $100 of assessment, which amounts to a tax bill of about $1,603.65 for a $250,000 home.

According to a budget memo presented to the council earlier this summer, the tax rate at some point will have to go up to 69.146 cents per $100 of value to service the debt. That's an increase of about $125, or 7.8 percent, for a $250,000 home.

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Biz Haddock, left, and Tanya VonZurmuehlen sell T-shirts for $3 each before Tuesday’s public hearing regarding Coppell’s proposed property tax rate increase. The T-shirts read, “No Tax Here!!”

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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.

Posted by Lindsey Bever Aug 26, 2009 1:11 PM, Comments (0)

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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.