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CITY NEW BRIEFS: SEPTEMBER 2010
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2010 Budget & Tax Rate Proposed
Posted: Tuesday, September
21, 2010
The City of Shoreacres is moving closer to adopting a budget and
property tax rate for the fiscal year that begins on October 1st.
A
proposed budget presented Monday night to City Council details
expenditures of $8,119,346.61, including $5,669,820.00 in Texas
Community Development Block Grants (TxCDBG) for Hurricane Ike recovery.
Increased spending will reconstruct the heavily damaged Public Works
building, replace damaged equipment, increase funding for Clean-Up,
Green-Up, and provide local matching funds for the TxCDBG projects.
Those projects include the replacement of several streets, a water
plant, two waste water lift stations, police offices, and storm drainage
improvements.
The public is invited to attend and participate in a public hearing
scheduled to receive comments on the proposed budget. That hearing will
be held at 7:00pm at Shoreacres' City Hall (601 Shoreacres Blvd) on
Monday, September 27th. Following the public hearing, the city council
will have the opportunity to consider changes before voting to adopt the
city's 2010 budget.
City council voted Monday night to propose a 2010
tax rate of 82.4670-cents per $100 valuation. The proposed tax rate
is less than last year's rate of 88.4264-cents but under the Texas tax
code is considered a 5% tax increase. Last year, when the city adopted
the 88.4264-cent rate it was a considered a 5% decrease under the tax
code even though the 2008 the rate had been 70.0560-cents. The sizable
swing in the city's tax rate has been the result of Hurricane Ike damage
reducing the tax base 25% in 2009.
The City of Shoreacres expects to see the tax rate continue to decline
in future years as the city recovers from Hurricane Ike. Recognizing
that the jump in tax rate last year would cause a hardship for it's
citizen who had been directed impacted by the effects of Ike, the city
provided a monthly relief of $24.68 per month applied to the city's
utility bills during 2010. That assistance was paid from the city's
reserves. In the proposed budget the monthly relief has been extended
another year albeit reduced to $12.34 per month.
The public is invited to attend and participate in two public hearing
scheduled to receive comments on the proposed tax rate. Those hearing
will be held at 7:00pm at Shoreacres' City Hall (601 Shoreacres Blvd) on
Monday, October 4th and on Monday, October 11th. City council will
officially vote to adopt the 2010 tax rate at 7:00pm on Thursday,
October 14th.
Street Project Engineering
Work Started
Posted:
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Many Shoreacres
residents have or will see survey, soil testing, and utility crews
working in and along their streets as the city prepares for new
street construction.
.jpg) A
year ago the city applied for federal Hurricane Ike recovery grant
funds. It has taken a long time, but finally we can see tangible
signs of progress. Some of those signs are spray painted on the
street while others are marked on wooden stakes.
This preliminary
engineering work will locate utilities, define the projects and
provide the information needed to prepare specifications that
will go out for bid in a few short months.
Prior to
Hurricane Ike the city had evaluated the condition of all of
its streets and began its first comprehensive street
program. That program led to the replacement of Westview
between Shoreacres Blvd and Baywood; and, the replacement of
Bayou Drive between Forest and Shoreacres. These two new
streets were constructed with concrete. Hurricane Ike put a
stop to the city's program as efforts were directed to
important needs elsewhere.
Following
Hurricane Ike the same evaluation criteria was again applied
to all of the city's streets. In that process a condition
and storm damage rating was determined for each street
segment. The damage ranking was in turn used to group and
prioritize immediate street replacement needs.
Originally the city
sought to replace 26 street segments that had been damaged by
Hurricane Ike flooding. Those street segments totaled 4.7 miles.
Although the city has received a large grant for street repair, our
engineer estimates that the funds currently available will only
replace 1.9 miles. Accordingly, preliminary engineering work is
being prepared for the first 12 street segments. Should the funds be
insufficient to accomplish all 12 segments, those at the bottom of
the list (e.g. #12, #11, etc.) may be postponed. [map]
All of the new street
surfaces will be concrete. These new streets will be flood damage
resistant, have low future maintenance costs and a very long life
expectancy.
Although current funding
won't repair all the streets that are in need, we do have an
opportunity to apply for another round of grants in 2011. It is our
intent to seek funding for the remaining 14 street segments and we
believe that we have a good chance to receive an award for part or
all of the segments on that list.
Under the schedule
provided by the Texas Department of Rural Affairs, the state agency
responsible for administering the federal grant funds, we can expect
street construction to start in March or April 2011.
2010 Property Tax Rate Process
Underway
Posted:
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
The City of Shoreacres has begun taking the first steps towards adopting
a 2010 property tax rate.
On Wednesday, September 15, 2010, the City will publish a
public notice in the Bayshore Sun newspaper concerning tax rates.
Last year the city's taxes totaled $724,437 with a tax rate of $0.884264
per $100 property value. If the city were to impose the same total taxes
as last year the 2010 tax rate would be $0.785400 per $100 property
value (effective tax rate). The lower rate is the result of increased
taxable values as the city recovers from Hurricane Ike damage.
Prior to Hurricane Ike Shoreacres' 2008 tax base was $108,872,045. In
the wake of the hurricane the tax base shrunk 25% dropping our property
values down to $81,925,420. The good news is that many homes have been
repaired or rebuilt. We still have far fewer home, but we are
recovering. The latest assessment raises the city's tax base to
$91,674,384.
On September 20 the city council will discuss the tax rate and consider
a proposed rate. Should council propose a rate above $0.785400
additional notices will be published and two public hearings scheduled.
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