The Clarendon City Council is faced with raising taxes and sanitation rates to balance its 2017 budget and will hold tax hearings on August 11 and 28.
During its regular meeting last Thursday, July 28, aldermen voted to propose a tax rate of $0.74800 per $100 valuation, which is higher than the effective rate (the rate required to bring in the same revenue as last year) of $0.707967.
The city’s taxable values dropped this year by about $990,000, according to the Donley Appraisal District.
In addition, City Hall is looking to correct a nearly $30,000 deficit in the sanitation department by proposing to raise trash rates by about nine percent.
A sewer rate increase was also under consideration in order to bolster the city’s changes in obtainting a Community Development Block Grant, but as the Enterprise went to press, aldermen backed away from raising sewer rates during a workshop Tuesday evening.
In other business last Thursday, aldermen accepted with regret the resignation of Bill Stavenhagen from the Clarendon Economic Development Corp. board and appointed Leslie Norrell to serve the remainder of that term.
The council accepted the low bid of Kyle Hill for low-water crossing work that needs to be done on Front Street to finish out the city’s “in-kind” obligation from a 2012 TxDOT grant at a cost of $16,000.
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