March 25, 2008 09:04 - Return of Market Days
The Hays Highway
KYLE – Once upon a time, about one Saturday per month during the warmer months, the City of Kyle put on a little gathering on the city hall square. It wasn't anything very intense, just a few vendors hawking their wares, a little public gathering.
The tradition kind of went away for a while. But it's making a comeback this year, in a slightly different form.
Kyle's parks and recreation department and the Kyle Area Chamber of Commerce have announced the return of Market Days, which will take place on the first Saturday of every month from April 5 to Nov. 1. The event will take place not on the old city hall square, but on Front Street between the new city hall and the old city train depot.
"This is an opportunity for Hays County local artists, farmers and craftsmen to display their homemade crafts, which are either handmade or grown personally by them," said Kerry Urbanowicz, Kyle's Director of Parks and Recreation. Urbanowicz said he hopes to also showcase indigenous Kyle restaurants, such as Bordeaux's and the Texas Pie Company.
Eight booths will be set up for farmers, with another 40 booths for artists and craftsmen. Farmers can use their booths for free, while artists and craftsmen will pay $35 for each event.
But not just any farmer or vender will be given a booth. Urbanowicz said a selection process will determine who participates. A Market Days committee also will determine which local bands and musicians will play at the events.
"Our goal is to promote local arts, crafts and farmers within the community," Urbanowicz said. "We would essentially like to promote tourism and the city itself."
The Parks and Recreation Department will set up the events, with the chamber of commerce responsible for alerting vendors and promoting the events.
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March 26, 2008 11:24 - The election in Buda
By Bill Peterson
BUDA – If somebody simply mentioned that four seats on a city council were up for election and eight candidates were in the running, you might suspect that incumbents were under attack.
In the case of this year's city elections in Buda, that would be wrong. Of all the candidates up for election, not a single one is an incumbent for the seat he or she is seeking.
It's not so much that the process in Buda has revealed unrest with the incumbency. More to the point, there is no incumbency to speak of in Buda, where a whole different order of city government stands to be seated within the next three or four months.
When all of this smoke clears, however the May 10 vote turns out, the Buda City Council will include three new councilmembers, three holdover councilmembers, and a present councilmember who will be the new mayor. The new council will be immediately tested for its powers of cohesion and its ability to agree on a vision for the city, because its first big order of business is a lot for even an experienced council.
Some time in July or August, the new city council will have to decide on a new city manager.
Given all that's at stake, one might expect a loud city council campaign. In Buda, that hasn’t happened since the 2002 election that the seated White, elected John Trube as mayor and re-elected Bobby Lane to the council.
Buda doesn't have a mayor at the moment. It does have a mayor pro tem in Lane, and he is running for mayor. Running against Lane is Councilmember White. Lane has been on the city council for eight years and White has been on it for six. After the May 10 election, neither will be a councilmember, strictly speaking. One will become mayor and the other will be off the council completely.
Running for mayor, Lane vacates his seat, now known as Place 1 under the city's new charter. Former Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Chairman Ron Fletcher is running for that position. Opposing Fletcher is present-day P&Z Commissioner Gerry O'Brien.
The luckiest candidate, by far, is Jardine's Foods Chief Financial Officer Kelly Allen, who is running for White's seat, known as Place 2. Allen, who is supported by the Buda Area Chamber of Commerce (BACC), drew no opponent. So Allen, for certain, will join the city council after May 10.
Place 6 is an added, new council seat per the charter. Former Mayor Billy Gray, whose term ended in 2002, has filed for the seat. Also filing are two relative newcomers to Buda. Todd Ruge has lived in Buda for two years, while Scott Dodd has lived in Buda for 14 months.
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March 27, 2008 10:26 - Hays CISD could face tax election
By Bill Peterson
Don't be too surprised if the Hays CISD trustees go to voters asking for a tax increase next year. If they want to keep giving pay raises to teachers, they may not have a choice.
Trustees wrestled with the 2008-09 budget Monday evening, trying to work in pay raises of $1,000 for teachers and two percent for other employees. The proposal to raise compensation for 1,945 school district employees costs $3.5 million.
School officials believe they can work that increase into the new budget for next year. But such a pay raise stands to be a problem the following year.
In the past, the Hays district has generally stayed below the state maximum Maintenance & Operations (M&O) tax rate of $1.50 per $100 of taxable property value. However, school finance reform in recent years has reduced that maximum to $1.04, and Hays is right on it. If the district wants to raise taxes beyond that amount, it needs voter approval.
School districts charge two tax rates. The M&O rate raises operating funds for payroll, utilities and other annual expenses. The Interest & Sinking (I&S) rate pays for debt service to finance capital improvements, such as new schools.
On the I&S side, Hays CISD benefits from local commercial development because those revenues aren't shared in the state's Robin Hood system. Thus, the school district passed a $46.3 bond issue in 2006 without a tax rate increase, and it's going back to voters on May 10 for $86.7 million, again without a tax rate increase.
The M&O rate works differently. Traditionally, Hays is a so-called "property poor" school district, meaning it receives revenue-sharing money from the state for M&O. However, as property values in the school district increase, the school district receives less money from the state.
So, the Hays CISD is in a position in which it can raise increasing money without raising the tax rate on the I&S side. But school officials don’t believe they can increase funds enough to maintain programs and keep up with increasing payroll expenses on the M&O side unless without raising the tax rate.
Hays CISD Superintendent Kirk London said the school district has to compensate employees along the lines of suburban districts in order to stay competitive. London not only wants to pay teachers better, but growth calls for the school district to continue adding teachers. The budget for next year includes 31 new teachers, five special education teachers and four "reserve" teachers in case enrollment exceeds projections.
For now, school officials believe they can handle the increases within the budget. But the following year is shaky.
"We are not able to raise taxes at all without having an election," Trustees President Chip DuPont said. "We have no leeway without having an election. We've got to look at it and say, 'This is the rule,' and plan accordingly ... The following year, we're going to have to have an election. That's the only way we can do salary increases from now on."
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March 30, 2008 23:14 - Tight squeeze
By Bill Peterson
SAN MARCOS – The Hays County commissioners laid more groundwork towards road work at last Tuesday's meeting, formalizing its requests for information from component jurisdictions, finalizing its charge for a bond committee and taking a preliminary look at financing options.
While commissioners plan to ask voters for a bond to support road improvements in November, the chance exists that they will attempt to improve more than just those roads for which the state has promised a $133.2 million reimbursement. The commissioners finished a letter to municipalities and school districts, asking them if they wish for any other specific roads. County Judge Liz Sumter said she would get the letter out before the end of the week.
The commissioners also set up the following the following charge for its bond committee: 1. Review the history of county road bonds and pass-through financing; 2. Review roads requests from school districts and municipalities; 3. Hold hearings about road projects on behalf of the county; and 4. Structure a bond package to put before voters.
The structure could either be tricky or simple, depending on how many roads are included and what kinds of financing options are chosen. Further muddying the waters is the presence of other big-ticket items near and dear to the commissioners court, combined with a desire to keep the property tax rate at 50 cents per $100 of taxable value or lower.
One additional financing option for roads, to give an example, is a Tax Reinvestment Zone (TRZ), similar to mechanisms used in Buda and Kyle to finance road and development projects. Basically, the county would designate land around a possible road, collect its present day taxes for the general fund, then use the incremental gains as the property value increases to pay for the roads within the zone. Public-private financing options also remain in play.
It would be up to the bond committee and the commissioners to decide which roads are included in a bond package, and what roads, if any, might be financed by a TRZ or public-private partnership. At the same time, they will try to keep the package from being too confusing for voters, lest they risk losing a November bond election over technicalities that opponents could easily distort.
"If you're trying to pitch an election, it's hard to throw all those alternatives in there," said Hays County Precinct 3 Commissioner Will Conley (R-San Marcos).
On top of road projects, the commissioners also want to somehow build a new government center and an addition to the county jail. Dan Wegmiller, the county's bond advisor, told commissioners they might want to consider a pain threshold beyond which they would not want to tax. The county presently taxes 46 cents and Precinct 2 Commissioner Jeff Barton suggested 50 cents as a pain threshold.
Assuming some road expenses, $40 million for a jail addition and $50 million for a government center, then assuming tax base growth of eight percent in each of the next two years and five percent a year after that, Wegmiller said the county could be looking at a tax rate of 49.5 cents.
Considering that property valuations in Hays County actually have grown faster than the 5-8 percent range in recent years, the commissioners might still pay for all their wishes without eventually taxing higher than 50 cents. But it figures to be a very tight squeeze even under prosperous circumstances.
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