City & County Politics – Page 13

Lytle approves $16.6 million budget, staff says utility rates must go up soon amidst growing city/ infrastructure projects

Today’s technology is amazing…Lytle City Administrator Matthew Dear, standing, addresses the city council Monday night, including District 5 Alderman Charles Cate who attended via internet connection (see laptop at right where he is on screen). Cate, an Air Force reservist, is currently deployed to an undisclosed location overseas, Mayor Ruben Gonzalez said.

By Anton Riecher
The Lytle City Council voted Monday to approve a proposed 2022-2023 budget of $16.6 million, not including expected federal stimulus funds.
On a motion by District 3 Alderman David Emery seconded by District 2 Alderman Sam Cortez the proposed budget was approved by a vote of 4-0. District 1 Alderman Joseph Morrow was absent from the meeting.
City Administrator Matthew Dear announced that the city’s total taxable value for the new budget year is $234.3 million. To collect the same revenue as the current year a no-new revenue tax rate of $.3443 per $100 valuation would be necessary.
“The new budget will raise $88,205 more than the current year, an 11 percent increase,” Dear said. “A lot of that is based on increased values as well as new properties added to the property roll this year.”
Under state law, the maximum tax rate the city can approve without voter consent is $.3654 per $100 valuation.
If an expected $379,885 in relief funds from the American Rescue Plan Act comes through the city will show an income of $17.8 million under the proposed budget.
“We do not have that number built into the coming year’s budget because we haven’t got that money yet,” Dear said.
The biggest obligations would be $6.1 million in water system improvements, $1.4 million in sewer system improvements and $985,000 in roads and sidewalks.
To make the new city budget work, Dear warned that the council will have to increase Lytle utility rates to bring them in line with surrounding communities in the coming year. For water, Lytle residents pay $12.00 a month compared to $38.14 in Devine, $32.47 in Hondo and $30 in Castroville,
For sewer, Lytle residents pay $18 a month compared to $30 in Castroville, $27.06 in Hondo and $23.57 in Devine.
“If we’re not going to change those we might as well put the brakes on everything we’re doing,” Dear said. “Tell the developers ‘Thank you, but not today.’”
A presentation by the Finance Director LaNet Hester noted Lytle experienced a 22% growth in 2021-22 and a 28% growth is expected each year until 2025.
District 5 Alderman Charles Cate, an Air Force reservist on deployment overseas, voted for the increase via an internet connection.
The council set 2:30 p.m. Aug. 30 as the date for a council workshop on utility and inspection rates.
In other action related to taxation, the council voted to approve a tax assessment and collection contract with Atascosa County. The county will charge the city $1.50 per parcel to collect, plus 10 cents for the central appraisal district.
If the city choses a different firm to collect delinquent taxes the cost goes up an additional 10 cents per parcel. The city’s current contract for delinquent tax collection lapses at the end of this year.
The council voted to authorize the city staff to issue requests for proposals to select a consulting firm to help Lytle apply for a $500,000 Texas Community Development Block Grant from the Texas Department of Agriculture.
“We’ve been told that the two top priorities this year will be wastewater and storm water,” Dear said.
First to apply for the job was GrantWorks. Michael Place, a client services representative for the company, works with the Alamo Area Council of Governments, which includes Atascosa County, and other regional COGs in obtaining grant funds.
Part of the grant process is “pre-scoring” the cities making application, he said.
“When we come to you and say we pre-scored you (it means) you rate pretty high and there is a good chance you are going to get funding,” Place said.
GrantWorks charges on a percentage basis but only if the grant application is successful, he said. The grant application would be required to benefit a low to moderate income area. Also, the city would have to provide a current audit.
The grant would also require a two-percent match of $10,000 from the city. The motion to search for consulting help was made by Emery and seconded by District 4 Alderman Michael Rodriguez.
Regarding the recent controversy concerning the proposed 170-plus lot Lytle MHC Mobile Park, the council voted to suggest 6:30 p.m. Sept. 8 at the city community center as the date for a town hall meeting on the project.
“The main objective out of this meeting is to have the developer present the plans and let the community actually get an idea of what is happening,” Gonzalez said.
“Although the meeting will be posted to the city hall website the city has no plans to make any formal presentation,” Dear said.
“It’s not a city meeting,” Dear said. “We are just facilitating a location.”
Citizen voices concerns on flooding around Lake Shores
A thunderstorm raging outside city hall set the stage for one resident concerned about high water. Trace Joyce spoke during the public comment period of the council meeting to warn that recent work in the Lakeshore Drive neighborhood to add an earthen crown above a pipeline increases the risk of flooding.
“It will increase the water that is going to be held,” Joyce said. “It increases the danger of a greater overflow when it has crested and it is finally pushed out of the way.”
Mayor Ruben Gonzalez said that a new drainage study is being discussed.
Ethics Comission created
On a motion by Emery seconded by Rodriguez the council voted to create an ethics commission to establish standards of conduct for city officials who volunteer to serve as city officials.
“Council members volunteer as full-time employees,” Dear said. “This is going to set forth our ethical standards on what is expected of you.”
The ordinance creating the commission establishes requirements for such volunteers to make financial disclosures and other reporting to avoid conflict of interest.
“For example, the planning and zoning commission is all volunteer,” Dear said. “If they had a financial interest in property being zoned it is information that we as a city need to know. They need to recuse themselves from that decision.”
Step toward Ozone ordinance
The council also voted to take the first steps toward an ordinance limiting the idling of heavy vehicles for lengthy periods of time inside the city limits.
“As we continue to grow and get more gas stations along the I-35 corridor we are going to continue to get trucks that are stopping and idling all night,” Dear said. “Bexar County is probably going to become an ozone nonattainment area.”
An ozone nonattainment area is one where air quality does not meet the federal ozone standards.
“Many truckers keep their vehicles idling overnight to provide air conditioning or heat while sleeping inside. An alternative is to park at a truck stop that provides electrical hookup to keep the vehicle comfortable,” Dear said.
Emery, who made the motion supporting development of an ordinance, urged the city to reach out to local truck stops to find out what alternatives are available. The motion was seconded by Rodriguez.
Other Matters
In other matters, the council:
•Approved $700 to finance the Veterans of Foreign Wars post to cook for a Sept. 11 memorial event to honor emergency responders.
•Appointed Martha Ellis of Lytle and Wanda Eggerton, an Atascosa County resident living near Lytle, to serve on the Atascosa County Library Board.
•Nominated Evangelina DeLeon, Margaret Wilson, Robin Cantu and Barry Sanders to serve on the Annual Citizenship Award Committee.

Devine council mulls over possible 2022 “no-new revenue” tax rate

Mayor Thompson, Deborah Randall and Josh Ritchey discuss the tax rate and budget at the meeting this past week.

By Anton Riecher
An unofficial majority of the Devine City Council favors a 2022 property tax rate of $.4527 per $100 of valuation based on increased taxable value of $274.1 million.
“The majority at the table wants to go with the no-new revenue tax rate,” Mayor Cory Thompson announced during an Aug. 16 regular session of the council.
Truth-in-taxation requires most taxing units to calculate two rates after receiving a certified appraisal roll from the chief appraiser — the no-new revenue tax rate and the voter-approval tax rate. The voter-approval tax rate — $.4866 – is the maximum rate the council can approve without a vote by local taxpayers.
The city’s current tax rate is $.5298 per $100 of valuation. By adopting the no-new revenue rate, the city will only gain $28,000 over the current tax rate.
With the increase in valuation, the no-new revenue tax rate amounts to a reduction for local taxpayers, District 5 council member Debbie Randall said.
“We still get a tiny, little bitty bump but it will be less taxes for the individuals,” she said.
The no-new revenue agenda item was not a final vote but simply a review in preparation for approving a final budget, Thompson said.
Two preliminary city budgets are being prepared for consideration based on a “wish list” compiled by the city staff, Thompson said. However, in preparation for the proposed budgets, District 4 council member Josh Ritchey asked for a list of all city job positions and their pay.
“My thought process here is every organization over five people has got some fat you can cut,” Ritchey said.
Randall replied that the city does not have enough employees to meet requirements now. However, she said she did agree with Ritchey that any pay increases for city employees should be based solely on merit.
“Technically, at my company there is no such thing as across the board,” Randall said. “You have to earn what you get.”
In other action, the council voted 3-0 to restrict all city council meeting to no more than four hours. Any agenda item not addressed in that time would be moved to a special session to be scheduled within two weeks.
The vote was taken on a motion by Ritchey seconded by Randall.
Initially, Thompson proposed a three-hour limit on any council session.
“If you can drive to Corpus in three hours you should be able to have a council meeting in three hours,” he said.
However, Randall argued that in her experience very few council meetings are able to work through a full agenda in only three hours.
“We would celebrate when it was done in three hours alone,” she said. “I’m thinking four maybe. We have been able to do it in a four-hour period.”
The proposed action came in the wake of complaints by city staff hard pressed to attend the lengthy council sessions, some lasting until midnight, and then putting in a full eight hours the next day.
“It’s hard on everybody,” he said. “Everybody has a job.”
Thompson noted that the council meeting in session had barely made quorum with only three of five council members attending beside the mayor. Under state law, a special session requires four voting members to establish a quorum.
The mayor said he would not support further restrictions on the time available for public comments during council sessions. However, those wishing to address the council might be better served by contacting their district council member.
“At the end of the day, the council person is the one that votes,” Thompson said.
Randall said she agreed that speaking to the district council member first can be more effective. But sometimes nothing can replace addressing the entire council.
“I tell them to bring their voices,” Randall said. “Sometimes we have to have them.”
The council voted to give city director of public works Robert Flores the authority to approve a certificate of occupancy upon the final inspection of the new Golf Clubhouse.
Action to set procedures for hiring a new city administrator was tabled.

Lytle Lady Pirates Varsity Volleyball has busy weekend at Devine Tournament

Lytle Lady Pirate Calyssa Sevier is hitting while Cadee Martinez and teammates are ready to assist.

By Noah Gilkey
The Lytle Lady Pirates travelled to Devine on Thursday the 18th to kick off their season of competition at the Devine Varsity Tournament. First up on their six game schedule were the Poteet Aggies, who they fought hard against before unfortunately coming up just short both matches. The final score of both games was 18-25, 18-25.
Leading scorers for that first game were Calyssa Servier with 3 kills, Rose Scotello with 4 aces, and Marissa Lopez with 4 assists.
Turning to their next game the Lady Pirates were eager to improve upon their last matches, and that they did by putting up a hard fight against Feast for three matches before ultimately falling to FEAST.
Leading scorers were Rose Sotello with 2 aces and blocks, Calyssa Sevier with 5 kills, Cameron Hutton with 2 solo blocks, and Alyssa Sprenger with an impressive 8 digs.
Finishing out the tournament on Saturday began for the Lady Pirates with Crystal City.

Lytle Lady Pirate Amelia Martinez sends a nice serve over.

“We made adjustments Friday during practice and prepared for the upcoming teams on Saturday,” said Coach Sam Mendez of the teams’ preparation for the second half of the tournament. “We came out with those adjustments hoping to be as competitive as possible going up against Crystal City. We put in a DS on the right side to fill in for our true RS Hitter Marissa Lopez. Amelia Martinez # 5 our DS held her own in the front row and did her job well.”
The Lady Pirates came out with the win against Crystal City. Leading the 25-21, 25-16 matches were Cameron Hutton with 7 kills, Calssa Sevier and Rose Scotello with 6 kills, Elysa Aleman with an amazing 18 assists, and Calyssa Sevier with 2 aces.
The Lady Pirates’ second match pf the day was against Fox Tech High School. Playing three matches with scores of 25-20, 23-25, and 20-25 the Lady Pirates came up just short of the win against Fox Tech.
Leading scorers for their second match were Cadee Martinez with 9 kills, Rose Scotello with 6 aces, 8 kills, and 22 assists, Marissa Lopez with 8 kills, and Alyssa Sprenger with 11 digs. Finishing up the tournament against Somerset the Lady Pirates finished strong and took the win in three matches with scores of 18-25, 25-15, and 25-16. Leading scorers for that final game were Marissa Lopez, Cadee Martinez and Rose Scotello with 2 aces, Calyssa Sevier with 9 kills, Rose Scotello with 16 assists, and Calyssa Sevier 9 digs.
Of the final results from the tournament, Head Coach Sam Mendez said, “Overall it was a good experience for the Lytle volleyball team. We made a lot of good changes. The girls are working hard and keeping their spirits high!”

Concerned community meeting this Thursday about large solar farm project in Moore

There will an important meeting at the Moore Community Center this Thursday, August 25 at 7pm regarding a solar farm project that has been proposed.
Frio County Commissioner Graf and County Attorney James Sindon will be there to talk about some details on the potential Black Creek Solar project. This is a very important meeting for all of the citizens who live in our small community because risk of devaluing our land, and environmental and health concerns.

City accepts $3.47 million bid for water system improvements
in Devine

New water pipes sit ready to replace asbestos lines in the City of Devine.

By Anton Riecher
The Devine City Council voted 3-0 to approve a $3.47 million bid by a Burnett County construction company for water system improvements during a regular session held Aug. 16.
Qro Mex Construction, Inc. of Granite Shoals won the project with the best of six bids submitted. Other bids ranged up to a high of $5.667 million.
“I want to say that Qro Mex is a very good company,” City Engineer Raul Garcia Jr. told the council. “We’ve worked with them and they are currently working on a project here in Devine right now. I think this is a very good bid for the council to consider.”
A motion to approve the bid was made by Josh Ritchey and seconded by Debbie Randall. Council members Angela Pichardo and David Espinosa were not present.
The contract is funded through a loan obtained from the Texas Water Development Board as part of the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. The fund, authorized by the Safe Drinking Water Act, provides low-cost financial assistance for planning, acquisition, design, and construction of water infrastructure.
Included in the project is installation of 20,343 linear feet of 8-inch water main, 3,327 linear feet of 5-inch water main, 6,613 linear feet of service line, plus various valves, hydrants and fittings.
Garcia told the council he has met with Qro Mex to review issues with previous improvement projects involving other companies “so that these issues don’t come up again.”
“We are confident they are going to follow our guidelines and work with us unlike our prior contractor,” Garcia said.
Work on the project is expected to begin in mid-September, Garcia said.
See article on tax rate and other council matters inside.

Attention Farmers: BMA sets earlier cut-off date for water orders… Sept. 15

By Anton Riecher

Customers who purchased allotments for agricultural irrigation with the Bexar-Medina-Atascosa Counties Water Control and Improvement District No. 1 have until Sept. 15 to submit orders water for the remainder of the year, BMA field manager Brian Sullivan said.

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Lytle and Atascosa leaders reject appraisal district’s proposal

Atascosa County Precinct 2 Commissioner Stuart J. Knowlton speaks to Lytle City Council about the appraisal budget increase that has been proposed.

By Anton Riecher
Members of the Lytle City Council voted unanimously Monday, August 8, to join with the Atascosa County Commissioners Court in rejecting a proposed 2022-2023 budget for the Atascosa Central Appraisal District that proposed a 12 percent increase from last year.
District 3 Alderman David Emery made the motion that was seconded by District 1 Alderman Joseph Morrow.
“I trust our county commissioners and the county judge,” Emery said. “I know they have looked at this and the county auditor has discussed it in quite a bit of detail. We have a little time and I think we need to send it back and let them start again.”
The 2022-2023 proposed budget submitted presented to the ACAD board in July totaled $2.104 million, a 19.4 percent increase over the previous year. The budget proposal was narrowly defeated five votes to four by the board.
After further revision, the ACAD board approved a proposal calling for a 12 percent budget increase. However, when submitted to the various taxing entities involved, the commissioners voted to reject the proposal, chiefly, Precinct 2 Commissioner Stuart J. Knowlton explained to the city council.
ACAD is responsible for appraising approximately 72,000 parcels of property, Knowlton said. But nearly half of those parcels involve mineral development and are appraised by an outside firm rather than ACAD.
The remaining 42,000 to 46,000 parcels are comparable to the entire workload in either Medina or Wilson counties, Knowlton said. The main bone of contention is the hiring of an additional tax appraiser called for in the latest budget.
“Those counties operate with fewer staff that we do,” he said.
Although Knowlton, who serves on the ACAD board as chairman of the building committee, voted to approve the budget submitted to the commissioners, he told the city council that he voted against the proposal at the commissioner court meeting earlier Monday.
As a counter proposal, Atascosa County Judge Robert Hurley and Tracy Barrera are suggesting an eight percent increase over the previous year’s ACAD budget, Knowlton said.
“We have no issue with the raises for employees,” he said. “Several of their employees, the clerical staff, were way below what it should have been.”
Kimberly Faulk, who represents the city of Lytle and the Lytle ISD on the appraisal board, also appeared before the city council. She said that the most significant raises in the budget represented supervisory personnel.
However, Alderman Emery noted that an appraisal district deed clerk would receive a pay hike from $32,000 to $43,000 in the latest version of the budget.
“Seems like quite a big jump in one year,” Emery said. “It might be better to break that up over a couple of years. We’d all like to get a 35 percent increase in our salary.”
Lytle Salaries
Salary increases for the Lytle city positions of finance director, city secretary and city administrator also received attention from the council.
On a motion by Emery, seconded by Morrow, the council immediately increased the finance director’s salary to $70,000 a year, the city secretary to $55,000 a year and the city administrator to $90,000 a year, as called for in the 2022-2023 city budget.
City Administrator Matt Dear explained that the finance director completed her probationary period on May 3 without receiving the customary nominal salary increase. The city secretary was permanently appointed in June but without a change from hourly employee to salaried.
As for Dear himself, moving to his full salary required the council to wave three months of his probationary period. Mayor Ruben Gonzalez explained that the salary increases would have no fiscal impact since a recent retirement left the salary fund with enough to cover the amount and still show a surplus.
“One of the reasons we are putting it on here is they have done a great job of getting us to where we are right now,” Gonzalez said.
Subdivision Rules
A motion by Emery to explore possible revisions to the city’s subdivision and zoning codes to require buffer zone and other requirements for the development of mobile home parks was approved by the city council.
At issue are plans for a 170-plus lot mobile home park near Martin Street to be called Harris Park. Tammy McDonald and other residents on Martin Street let the council know their concerns.
“Our city is not ready for this many homes,” McDonald said. “The city council should consider the restriction we have put on other developers’ subdivisions.” Specifically, she said she was concerned with the space permitted between homes and other buffer areas.
Acknowledging that the council rezoned the property for this type of development nearly 25 year ago, McDonald said she was concerned about how the mobile home park would affect the value of her property.
Jolinda Harris of Harris Western, Inc. told the council that only new homes meeting federal standards will be allowed in Harris Park. All will be individually owned with no rented mobile homes allowed, she said.
“The only thing that is going to be rented is the lot,” Harris said.
All residents will be fully vetted including a credit check and a check for criminal background, she said.
“I’m not sure other subdivisions do that but we do,” Harris said.
She also objected to calling Harris Park “a trailer park.”
“These are really not trailers,” Harris said. “These are homes built in a factory and moved already built.”
Harris’ father, George Harris, who developed his first mobile home park in Lytle nearly 50 years ago, took issue with the argument that the new mobile home park will have a negative impact on the local tax base.
“They raised the taxes on units that belong to me almost $100,000 last year,” Harris said. “Since last year they raised it $200,000 above that.”
Speed limits
In other action, the council approved motion to revise proposed speed limits and install speed bumps on Lytle-Somerset Street. The motion by Morrow, seconded by Rodriguez, called for the city to investigation alternatives to speed bumps to better control speeding in that area.
Crossing guard
On a motion by Rodriguez, seconded by Emery, the council approved to $6,600 to cover last year’s contribution to Lytle ISD from the Bexar County School Crossing Guard fund.
Memorial event
Also, the council voted to partner with Patriot Automotive for the city’s September 11 memorial event.
“It’s going to be a great event for our first responders,” Gonzalez said.
3 nominated for Citizenship Award committee
The city council voted to nominate three appointees to the city’s Annual Citizenship Award Committee. Morrow nominated Margaret Wilson while Emery put forward the name of Robin Cantu. District 4 Alderman Michael Rodriguez put Eva DeLeon in nomination.
Two additional nominees are pending.

Failure to post addresses at homes continues hindering emergency response in our area

By Anton Riecher
Failure by residents to post address numbers on either their homes or mail boxes continues to hinder emergency responders trying to find rural locations in the shortest time possible, Allegiance Mobile Health District Chief Patrick Bourcier said.

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Medina County Veteran’s services office helps secure millions to take care of local veterans

By Anton Reicher and Kayleen Holder
Medina County Commissioner’s heard a follow-up budget presentation by Medina County veteran’s services officer Ruben Gonzalez this past July 28. The total that the team has brought into Medina County veterans alone is up from approximately $40 million in 2020 to $46 million in 2021.

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Amongst packed court room County leaders push 65+ property tax appraisal freeze idea to the voters in November

By Anton Riecher
Medina County commissioners gave unanimous consent Thursday (July 28) to add a measure to the Nov. 8 ballot seeking voter approval to freeze the appraisal value on property owned by residents over 65 years old.

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