Two legally required tasks of our city council are to approve an annual budget and adopt a property tax rate to fund the budget. The city council stepped through the first few steps of this process 
by accepting the certified tax valuations from the county appraiser, adopted a maximum tax rate, and scheduled a public hearing to hear comments on the 2017 City Budget for October 10. The council is expected to adopt the annual budget at a meeting on October 17.
Maximum tax rate adopted
The maximum tax rate adopted last night was is 31.68 cents per $100 value; last year’s rate was 33.179 cents per $100 value. Because of the 7.79% increase in property values, this tax rate reduction still would result in a tax increase.
But it is likely the rate ultimately adopted by the city council on October 17 will be lower than the maximum rate the city council adopted last night. Last night’s action started the legally required process mandated by state law to adopt a budget and set a tax rate.
Litigation update
The council met in Executive Session (not open to public) to discuss pending and threatened litigation. The focus of the meeting was believed to be a lawsuit filed by AT&T against the West University Place Zoning Board of Adjustment regarding the ZBA’s recent ruling limiting the operation of the AT&T’s facility on Bellaire Blvd.
The ZBA is a quasi-judicial body that hears appeals from administrative decisions, grants special exceptions and variances, and interprets the intent of the zoning ordinance. An affected party has the right to appeal the decision directly to State District Court, and AT&T did that.
The ZBA has no budget or litigation authority. So the decisions about litigation and any related costs are decided by the city council and the associated costs are borne by West U taxpayers.
Future agenda items
The city council decided to ask for bids for a new city newspaper. State law requires West U to annually adopt an official newspaper to publish each ordinance, notice, or other matter required by law or ordinance to be published. The current official newspaper is the West University Examiner, a newspaper recently purchased by the Houston Chronicle.
At the city council meeting on September 26, there will be a workshop presentation by the Facilities Master Plan Task Force.
September 13, 2016 at 7:02 pm
With an increase in WUP property values, the city is taking in more money. Now is the time to give a Seniors an exemption. Now is the time to provide all residents of WUP with adequate service and benefits. An example of needed benefits is a park within walking distance on the East side of WUP. Now is the time to put automatic doors and ramp to the Metro pick-up site for the disabled. Now is the time to provide breakfast for Seniors at the Senior Center without charging for a meal where money was donated. Now is the time to provide coffee for Seniors in the Senior Center, like every other Senior Center (I expect things to change in February). Now is not the time for city council to waste money on paying for duplicate benefits for staff, buying expensive cars for the police, or very expensive rescue vehicles that really aren’t needed in this city (cities in close proximity have rescue vehicles we can access), etc. Wake up people! The economy could turn, don’t waste tax resources.
September 15, 2016 at 6:16 pm
I can’t hardly believe it! In your fevered ranting I have finally found a scintilla of sensible argument. Like the blind squirrel that inadvertently finds an acorn, you have stumbled across an important and relevant reason not to increase the senior exemption: “The economy could turn.” Of course it could, and when it does, exemptions will leave the City in a precarious position.
So, no, no more exemptions for seniors! Why should seniors get to pay a lower rate than everyone else? Seniors should be paying their fair share—and that’s the same rate as everyone else pays. If you can afford to live in West U, then you can afford to pay the taxes. That’s especially true for those who use more City services.
About those services, do you simply have no shame with your never-ending demands for free coffee? And now you want free breakfasts, too? For how many days a week? Bacon, too—-or will sausage be enough? Should we cut the crusts off your toast? Maybe what you really want is human interaction and contact. But frankly, no one derives any pleasure from dealing with you. (Well, maybe Brennan.)
You want more services (free food, more parks, improved Metro service), but you want other people to pay for them. That’s not very neighborly, and it’s not good public policy. And don’t please complain about “rescue vehicles that really aren’t needed in this city.” You know that you’ll be screeching the loudest when you’re stuck in the next floods. Avoiding that mess is well worth it.