NEWS
Nocona City Council finalizing budget details for fiscal 2018-19
City of Nocona employees will receive a four percent salary increase next year under a proposed city budget reviewed by the council Tuesday night while citizens will see a slight tax reduction.
Councilors discussed a plan to adopt the effective tax rate of $0.5387 per $100 assessed property value. The 2017 rate was 0.55320.
According to Nocona City Secretary Revell Hardison, the total taxable value of properties in Nocona for the year is $116,231,648, an increase of $4,848,852 in value over last year’s values of $111,390,796, creating an effective rate of 0.5387 cents.
The effective tax rate is broken down into maintenance and operations at $0.4795 with a debt rate of $0.592. The rollback rate is $0.5760 cents.
The total amount of city debt obligations secured by property taxes totals $68,872. This debt includes an E-199 Quint ladder fire truck, 2016 Chevrolet Tahoe police vehicle, 2017 Chevrolet Tahoe police vehicle, 2004 Chevrolet Silverado public works truck and a 2007 Ford F-150 public works truck. The proposed budget does not include any new vehicles.
“We did do a salary increase for our employees, but otherwise most things are the same as before. We did budget a couple of generators in the water and sewer departments for some of the plants,” explained Hardison.
The proposed tax rate will generate revenue of $609,419 for a budget with total projected revenue at $2,181,219. Part of that revenue for Nocona is derived from water and sewer. While residents will not see a difference in their taxes, change is coming for water and sewer.
While city officials continue to work on water rates, sewer may see a rate increase of $2 from the current rate of $28 to $30.
“It will be a flat fee without any tier whatsoever on the sewer,” explained Public Works Billing Administrator Cindy McCracken.
However, the current $37 rate for 5,000 gallons will see a drop in the amount of water allowed to 1,000 gallons with a tiered increase for 1,001-5,000 gallons, 5,001 gallons and up after that. Numbers and rates are still being configured but should be set by the end of September.
“This will help my ones who want to conserve water who have the pioneer rate right now,” explained McCracken.
There are currently around 40 citizens on the pioneer rate, which they must show income tax or social security to prove they qualify for the income requirement.
“I have many older people where it’s just them or one person, and they are more than likely use only around 600 gallons a month,” explained McCracken.
Read the full story in the weekend edition of The Bowie News.
The second community meeting on needs for an emergency room or hospital in Bowie is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Nov. 19 at the Bowie Community Center.
This is the second meeting to discuss these needs following the closure of the Faith Community Health Center emergency room on Oct. 6, just shy of a year of operation. More than 200 people attended that first meeting, where discussion centered on the creation of a taxing district to support any sort of medical facility.
Citizens in the Bowie area are encouraged to attend and take part in these discussions.
The Bowie City Council has moved its Nov. 18 meeting to 6 p.m. on Nov. 19 where three new council members will take the oath of office.
Councilors include Laura Sproles, precinct two, Brandon Walker, precinct one and Laramie Truax, precinct two. After the votes are canvassed and the oaths given, a mayor pro tem will be selected.
The new members will jump right into training as City Attorney Courtney Goodman-Morris provides an orientation and discussion of duties for council members.
City Manager Bert Cunningham will make his monthly report on the following topics: Nelson Street, which opened last Thursday, update on the sewer line replacement project, substation transformer placement and information on medical companies.
A closed executive session on the Laura McCarn vs. City of Bowie lawsuit is scheduled. The suit arose in November 2022 when the city broached selling some 25 acres it owns on Lake Amon G. Carter, originally part of the land purchased for the 500-acre Bowie Reservoir completed in 1985.
McCarn challenges the ownership of the property stating it should revert to the original owners since it was not used for the lake.
This 24.35 acre tract is located at the end of Indian Trail Road surrounded by the lake and the Silver Lakes Ranch subdivision.
One of Bowie’s major thoroughfares, Nelson Street, was reopened Thursday after one busy block has been closed since August 2021 when a section of the street failed.
Construction finally came to an end on Thursday when the street, including the Nelson and Mill intersection were reopened. Mayor Gaylynn Burris, City Manager Bert Cunningham, Councilors TJay McEwen and Stephanie Post, Engineer Mike Tibbetts and Public Works Director Stony Lowrance met at the site Thursday morning and removed the barricades. It only took a few minutes for vehicles to start arriving and drivers were excited to go through on the new roadway.
This section of Bowie has endured flooding and drainage problems for many years and in the summer of 2023 the city council finally bit the bullet and sought bids for the repair work expected to top $3 million. In August 2021 a one block section of Nelson was closed when a large sinkhole appeared on the north side of the street. Traffic had to be diverted including all the school traffic flowing from the nearby junior high and intermediate.
Read the full story in the weekend Bowie News.
Top photo – (Left) Mike Tibbetts, engineer with Hayter Engineering, talks with Bowie City Manager Bert Cunningham as they look over the massive drainage project on Nelson Street.
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