City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening. Workshop council meeting for the City of Coprish Cove held September 1, 2026. It's called to order at 5.45 PM. Madam Secretary, please call the roll.

Mayor Yancey.

Here.

Christina Strophos? Here. Rita Hogan? Here. Howard Hawk? Here. John Hale?

Here.

Dale Treadway? Here. Vanya Hart? Here. Jack Smith?

Here. Okay. Everyone's present. Item C, announcements.

Nothing for me, Mr. Mayor. None for me, sir.

None, Mr. Mayor.

Just a couple, Mayor. Oktoberfest is coming up, and it will be held on July 12th downtown. And then... July 12th? I'm sorry, September 12th. I got excited looking at another thing. And then October 3rd is National Night Out kickoff party, also downtown.

Thank you. Is that it?

Yes.

Nothing, sir.

Nothing, Mr. Mayor.

No announcements.

No announcements. Okay. We move to item D, public recognition.

D1, Employee Service Awards, September 2026, Ryan Haverlaw, city manager.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. Tonight we are recognizing our amazing team members and we have three people we're going to recognize and celebrate with the number of years that they have worked for our organization and for the community. Beginning first with Douglas Jenkins. He is an operator with our wastewater collection department celebrating five years of service. Douglas began his career with the City of Copper's Cove on September 14, 2021. When he was hired as a laborer with the drainage department, he promoted to light equipment operator herbicide slash crack sealer with the street department in July of 2022. And most recently, Doug transferred to the Wastewater Collection Department as an operator in June, 2026, where he continues to serve our citizens. During his time with the street department, Douglas operated various pieces of equipment used for street repair and maintenance, including the street sweeper, pneumatic rollers, wheel loaders, sand spreaders, water trucks, distributor trucks, dump trucks, crack sealing machines, and herbicide sprayer. Douglas has proven to be a knowledgeable and dependable employee who maintained outstanding relationships with his coworkers. Among his many accomplishments, Douglas completed 58 miles of herbicide treatment along city rights-of-way swept an impressive 898 miles of roadway and regularly assisted with street cuts and other maintenance needs. His supervisor stated in a recent evaluation, Douglas is our best herbicide and sweeper operator and has completed more miles on both pieces of equipment than anyone has before. He has a great attitude and will get a task done right. His knowledge, strong work ethic, positive attitude, and willingness to get the job done have made him a valuable member of our city team. Oh, Douglas didn't make it. Look at that. That's awesome. Douglas, thank you for your service to the city and community. Next, we celebrate with Maria Ancheta, who is our senior records clerk with the police department celebrating five years of service. Maria began her career with the City of Copper's Cove on September 2nd, 2021, when she was hired as a communications operator with the police department. She transferred to the records section as a senior records clerk in July of 2023, where she continues to serve our citizens. Maria is knowledgeable in her duties and eager to take on new tasks and responsibilities. She consistently looks for ways to improve processes by establishing checks and balances and developing procedures that are easy for others to understand and follow when providing backup assistance. Maria is professional, kind, informative, and helpful when working with both internal and external customers. She uses sound judgment when making decisions and regularly seeks input from others within the department to ensure those decisions are in the best interest of the team. As noted in her most recent evaluation, Maria is professional and well organized. She has adapted to working in records very well and continues to be a valuable asset to our department. She is helpful and task driven. Maria enjoys a challenge and has taken on many cross training opportunities. So with that, thank you to Maria for her service and commitment to this city. And lastly, we celebrate with Michael Mazok Jr., who is a fire captain with our fire department celebrating 10 years of service. Michael began his employment with the City of Coppers Cove on September 21, 2016, when he was hired as a Firefighter 1 EMT. He became a certified paramedic in July 2018 and promoted to Firefighter II in August 2019. Most recently in July 2022, Mike promoted to Fire Captain where he currently serves our citizens. Michael demonstrates a strong knowledge of his duties as a captain and actively seeks opportunities to enhance his expertise. He requires minimal direction and consistently troubleshoots complex situations effectively, both on scene and within the fire station. Michael is a highly dependable and consistently completes tasks and assignments with minimal supervision. He interacts with coworkers and the public in a friendly and courteous manner while maintaining a strong command presence that earns the respect of his peers and subordinates. As noted in his most recent evaluation, Captain Mazok is very passionate about the department and its members, often advocating for others to ensure their voices are heard. He is an excellent motivator for newer firefighters, guiding them toward the skills and knowledge needed to succeed. These attributes make him a consistent and fair officer who brings stability to the department, making him an invaluable asset to the officer core and especially to B shift. Thank you, Michael, for your years of service to our city and our community as well. Thank you, Mayor. That concludes our service awards.

All right. Thank you, Ryan. We do not have any workshop items for tonight, so the time is 5.53. We stand adjourned. We will begin the regular meeting at 6 o'clock.

Thank you, Mayor. For anybody who wishes to speak during Citizens Forum, we do ask that you provide your information so that we can call you up in an orderly manner. And Ms. Rodriguez is over here. You can complete that form over there. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Welch.

Good evening. Regular council meeting for the city of Coppers Cove held September 1st, 2026 is called to order at 6 p.m. Please stand for the invocation by Brian Haverlaw, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

Please pray with me. Dear Heavenly Father, we come to you this evening and we give you all thanks, praise, and glory, Lord. Lord, I pray, God, that this governing body, that you are guiding them and directing them. Lord, that your hand is upon all of our city, our community, our residents, our businesses, that you are blessing them, prospering them, and leading them in their life. Lord, I pray for our state and our nation. And Lord, worldwide, there's so many tragedies that are happening and occurring. In our own city, we are thankful for the life that we have here. I pray in the name of Jesus.

Amen. Show me the pledge to our nation's flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. And to the Texas flag.

honor the Texas flag, I pledge allegiance to the Texas, one state, under God, one and indivisible.

Please be seated. Madam Secretary, please call the roll.

Mayor Yancey?

Here.

Christina Stropas? Here. Rita Hogan? Here. Howard Hawk?

Here.

John Hale?

Here.

Dale Treadway?

Here.

Vanya Hart? Here. Jack Smith?

Here. All right. Everyone's present. Item D, announcements.

None for me, Mr. Mayor. None for me, sir.

None, Mr. Mayor.

just to September 12th in the evening. Downtown is Oktoberfest, a great event to go and celebrate. And then October 3rd is National Night Out, also downtown, beginning at 6 p.m. All right. John? I have nothing, sir. Nothing. Mr. Mayor?

No announcements.

Jack? Just want to announce today is opening day of dove season, and that's where I'd rather be.

All right, well at least we know where your mind's at right now. Okay, we move to item E, Citizens Forum.

At this time, citizens will be allowed to speak for a length of time not to exceed five minutes per person on any item which is listed on the agenda and items not listed on the agenda. 30 minutes total has been allotted for this section. Pursuant to section 551, of the Texas Open Meetings Act, any deliberation or discussion about the subject of inquiry which is not listed on the agenda shall be limited to a proposal to place the subject on the agenda for a subsequent meeting.

All right, thank you. We'll ask everybody that if you want to speak in your citizen's forum, that you check in with Anna, or Kevin, I'm sorry. If you have comments, you're limited to five minutes, which is fine. Be mindful of there are other people that want to speak also. So state what you're looking at and yield to others to give them a chance to speak as well. Go ahead.

DAVID BURRAGE. Charles Streeter.

My name is Charles Schroeder. I live at 210 Overlook Trail. I'm here for two things. I want to say thank you for our city workers, our water department, our parks, our police department. We've got an amazing police department. We've got an amazing fire department now, and EMTs and everything. But I have several complaints that I don't think that taxes should be raised to pay Ryan for his pay raise. I don't think it shouldn't be, especially when even you're talking about the scandal of last year with the fire department and allowing the fire chief to retire after finding drugs at the fire department and everything. And then going of this year with the water and and ryan i'm gonna go back to the fire department you put out a no disclosure orders that are notifying the public of the safety and risk that could have been put into harm because you stated to the public that he was into the you believe he was in the administration in the administration room I can say as being an ex-firefighter and everything, no. After only being on the fire department for two years, being a medic for two years, he's gun-holed. He ain't going to do no paperwork. He's going to be directly doing fire. And then you come back around and have a water deal break, and y'all fail to notify the public. I never got a red alert, nothing was ever said on Facebook until the day, I believe a day and a half later after the project was fixed. And no, if you're not going to allow the public to know what's going on, then no, I don't think you should have a pay raise. And I think if you want a pay raise, then you need to take the golf course and dismantle it. because we pumped hundreds of thousands of dollars a year into that golf course for the last 29 years, and it still hasn't made money to support itself. And we keep putting money into it. But I could sit here and talk about the new hot dog stand that went up about a month ago called Mommy Bear Hot Dog is going out of business off of Main Street. Just made that name up. Would the city council say that we can use $10,000 a year to fund her, to keep her stand open? No. You're going to tell, I'm sorry, Mama Bear, Hot Dog, you're closed down. Goodbye. Let it close. You're not going to use tax dollars money on that. That's the thing, what we need to do with the golf course. Let it go. We can turn it into, for the military, fire training. You could turn it into whatever, amusement park for another city park. Something, instead of re-pumping hundreds of thousands of dollars into that park, wasting tax dollars money. And we could use that money, hundreds of thousands to fix our water lines, to pay off our employees better. to the 17 to 20 bucks an hour and everything. So that's all I got right now.

Dana Wall, 3054 Colorado Drive. Good evening, Mayor and City Manager and Council. I am here this evening to talk to you about Market with a Mission. So last year with Market with a Mission, we had four dates. and we fed a little over 9,000 households. We supplied 2,000 medical items, 2,000 baby items, and a little over 500 articles of clothing completely for free. But the other thing that we did at Market with a Mission is we brought awareness to resources that are directly in our community, whether that was behavioral health clinics, the VA resources, ABA clinics, things of those sort. resources that our residents need, and they need to know about before a moment of crisis happens. And so, and that's the reason why we have established, through DNS Cuddling Critters, the foundation, Market with a Mission. This year, our first event will be hosted October 9th at the Copper's Cove Civic Center, and I will tell you that we plan on doubling our numbers. Our goal is to reach a little over 20,000 households here in Corio County alone, primarily here in Copper's Cove. So throughout the last several weeks, I've been going around in the community again re-engaging with those who supported us last year. And we've got a lot of interest. So it will not just be at the Copper's Cove Civic Center that we will be doing distribution. We have collaboratively across Bell and Coryell County added five new distribution centers that will be added to Market with a Mission this year. So I encourage all of you to come out again. I know we had several of our council members come out last year and help out. That was amazing to see because in those moments, I didn't really know who any of you were. You were just residents who showed up to help last year. And I thought that was absolutely beautiful. So I would love for y'all to come out again this year. If you can, once again, the goal is 20,000 families and I Dana wall cannot do that alone. I am counting on my community. and my residents to help reach every nook and cranny in our community that I cannot reach by myself. So once again, it takes a village to do this. And thank you for being a part of my village. Thank you.

How you guys doing? My name is Marimer Cruz Nieves, and you got my information over there. So I'm here because I'm angry about what is costing ordinary people to live in Copper's Cove. As someone who has lived in the city for 25 years plus, it seems that when I cough, I pay. That when I breathe, I pay. I know that I'm not the only one that feels this way. But instead of just coming up here angry, I went back and looked at the city's own budget and fee schedules. And I think residents need to understand what those documents show. We hear a lot about the property tax rate, but a property tax bill is not the only way we pay for the city. We pay a water bill. We pay sewer charges. We pay for trash. We pay a drainage fee. And now we have a monthly street maintenance fee. Then there are permits, fines, EMS charges, and other city fees. One increase by itself might not sound like much, $5 here, $10 there, a few more dollars on the water rate, but keep doing that year after year, and eventually those little increases become a very big increase for the people who actually have to pay them. So I went back to the 2020 and compared the recurring city charges with what's proposed for the 2027. So 2027 budget till 2027 today. For a household using about 5,000 gallons of water a month, the comparable recurring city charges we calculated were about $105.50 a month in 2020. Under the proposed 2027 rates and fees, that same comparison is about $170.48 a month. That's approximately 65 more every month. That's almost 780 more every year. That's roughly a 62% increase. And for our higher use household, around 14,000 gallons, I'm not even going to say the charges. But at the end of the day, that 14,000 gallons is going to be like $1,200 a year. And that comparison doesn't even include the individual residence property tax bill. So when somebody says, it's only $10, I want council to remember, residents don't pay these increases one at a time. We pay all of them together. And while residents are being asked to pay more, I look at what's happening on the other side of the city books. Water and sewer debt service has gone from approximately $4.76 million in year 2025 to a proposed $7.59 million in 2027. That's an increase of roughly 60% in those budget years two budget years at the same time water and sewer administrative reimbursement goes from approximately 1.14 million to 1.45 million solid waste has another 1.19 million proposed for administrative reimbursement drainage has about 243 000 stream maintenance has another 224 000 Altogether, that's approximately 3.1 million in administrative reimbursements from those four funds in one proposed budget year. And your own budget says the new assistant city manager is budget in the general fund, but a significant portion of that position's cost will be allocated back through water and sewer, solid waste and drainage and street maintenance. Again, I'm not saying the city can allocate legitimate share costs between funds. I'm asking a much simpler question. At what point does a council look at the entire burden being placed on the resident? Because the person paying the water bill doesn't care which accounting fund you put the expenses in. It is still coming out of the same household. Property taxes come out of that household. Water comes out of that household. Sewer comes out of that household. Trash comes out of that household. The New Street fee comes out of the household. Meanwhile, city debt obligations and administrative reimbursement are increasing. That's the conversation I want this council to have before approving another increase. Don't tell residents that one particular fee is only a few dollars. Show us the cumulative increase. Show us the average cove household paid the city five or seven years ago versus what was that same household is expected to pay now. shows how much city debt has increased during that same period, and shows where the additional money has gone. Because if residents are paying substantially more, we should be able to see substantially better infrastructure and services, or we deserve a clear explanation of why we aren't. People in Copper Skull have groceries to buy. They have electricity bills, insurance, mortgages, and rent. Their household budgets don't have an unlimited revenue source. When we're short, we can just invent another fee. So before council asks residents for another dollar, I'm asking you to look at what you're already talking from the same household. Start looking at each increase in isolation. Look at the whole bill. And that's the number your residents are living with. Thank you.

Good evening, council. Good evening, mayor, city manager, citizens of Cove. My name is Alexander Cruz. I live in Clara Drive as well. And I wanted to talk tonight about something every resident in Covers Cove should understand, how much we're actually paying for city government, how much this city has taken, and how difficult it has become for an ordinary resident to follow where all the money goes. And echoing in my wife's words, when most people hear taxes, they think about their property tax bill, but that's not the only part that we're paying. In the proposed fiscal year 2027 budget, the city expects approximately $25.9 million in tax revenue, but expects almost $39.9 million in user charges. Think about that. The city expects substantially more revenue from user charges than from taxes. We pay for water, sewer, you name it. We pay street maintenance, et cetera. And that's before you start talking about property taxes and the other fees and charges residents encounter. The city may consider these charges separately, but families don't pay separately, of course. In this proposed budget, approximately 3.1 million is administrative cost reimbursements and budgeted for just four funds. Water and sewer, 1.447 million. Solid waste, 1.92 million. And drainage, 243,056. And street maintenance, 224,429. Administrative reimbursements are not automatically improper If the general fund provides legitimate services to another fund, there can be a legitimate cost allocation. But the residents paying those fees should be able to see exactly what they're paying for. Your own budget says the new assistant city manager is budgeted in the general fund, while the significant portion of the position's cost will be allocated through administrative reimbursements from water and sewers, solid waste, drainage, and street maintenance. Simple question. Where is the allocation worksheet? Show residents in one table how much is allocated for the city manager's office, the assistant city manager, finance, budget, human resources, IT, and every other central ministry functions. Show us the percentages. Show us the formula. Show us how much leaves each fund. And show us exactly where the money lands, because across four funds and ministry reimbursements increased from approximately $2.53 million in fiscal budget 2025, actual spending $3.11 million proposed for fiscal year 2027. That's about a 23% increase in two budget years. But administration isn't the only numbers that is increasing. Water sewer debt service is proposed at approximately $7.59 million for fiscal budget 2027. That's up from approximately $4.76 million in fiscal year 2025. That's roughly, as you said, 60%. And over the period that we examined, Culper Scope has issued roughly 110 million in debt, and some of that debt are certificates of obligation. The city's budget identifies that as a total outstanding municipal principle in the fiscal year 2026-2027 proposed budget. About 95.95 million of that is outstanding principle on certificates of obligations shown in your debt schedule. With remaining interest, the city scheduled debt service totals about 147.5 million through 2045. These aren't abstract numbers on a government spreadsheet that has to be repaid. Whether repayment ultimately comes through property taxes, utility revenues, enterprise funds, or other city resources, somebody has to provide the revenue that somebody is us. So after roughly 95 million in certificates of obligation, residents have every right to ask, what did we get for it? What was the original cost? How much was borrowed? How much was actually spent? What was completed? What remains unfinished, et cetera? Because we're still talking about major infrastructure needs. We're still talking about water projects. We're still increasing rates and fees. We're still adding costs of household budgets and water and sewer loan is approaching 7.6 million a year in debt service. At some point, Council has to connect those numbers for the public. I'm not standing here accusing anyone of stealing money. I'm asking you to make the money traceable, please. Residents should not have to read hundreds of pages of budgets, debt schedules, and financial reports and reconstruct multiple funds just to answer a basic question. Where are we paying? What did we borrow? And what did we get for it? and show exactly how these millions of dollars, these administrative reimbursements, are calculated and where they go. Don't tell residents just to go find somewhere in 300 budgets put in one place. Can you wrap it up real quick? I just want to sum it up, basically. Just transparency means where an ordinary resident can actually follow the money, make it, more accessible so we can actually read it, understand it and see where everything goes. Thank you.

Ms. Herman.

Good evening, mayor and council members. My name is Aris Herman, and I am here tonight not only as a resident, but as a voice for the people in our community who are trying to understand what is happening with our taxes, our utility cost, our infrastructure, and the decisions being made with public money. We understand that running a city requires difficult decisions. And asking questions is not an accusation. It is part of the public's right and responsibility to understand how those decisions are made. When residents are being asked to pay more, especially after a serious water system emergency, we deserve clear numbers, clear explanations, and clear accounting priorities. What many of us are asking for is simple, transparency before trust is requested. If numbers change, Please explain to us what has changed. If reserves are used, tell us how much and what remains. If infrastructure's failed, tell us why. What was learned and what is being done to prevent it from happening again? I'm asking these questions respectfully on behalf of residents who work hard for their dollar that they pay to this city every day. We want Copper's Cove to succeed. Accountability and transparency are not attacks on the city. They are how public confidence is built. I have also presented before legislature an act called the Transparency Act of Texas. I'm hoping that with that, I can bring it to the city council meetings and we can come together and progress. So I have a lot of questions just like everybody else. I'm nervous being up here. I'm going to focus on the two questions that are my main ones. One is debt service fund and reserves. Exactly how much additional debt service fund balance is being used in the FY 2026-27 budget? What will that balance of that fund be afterwards? And are we using one-time reserves to pay expenses that will occur again next year? If so, what is the plan? What that fund balance is no longer available. My second question, water emergency after action explanation. On August 17th, the city said that the water system was anticipated to recharge in approximately 24 hours. On August 18th, the city reported that storage levels had not recovered as anticipated. What assumption proved that incorrect? demand, storage capacity, pumping capacity, valve configuration, additional leakage, or something else? And will the city release the written after-action report explaining what happened and how a repeat of this will be prevented? And those are my questions for right now. Thank you.

DAVID BURRAGE.

Mr. Brown? So. I'm Jonathan Brown. I live up on Sabrina Lane. I spoke briefly at the last meeting. So I'm here to talk about two things, the city budget. One, I think the city should vote against it. Two, my other topic is on the city manager. So let's start off with the city budget. When you drive down going towards Fort Hood on business 190, Down in front of 7 Brew, where that water main broke, it looks like Helen Keller replaced it. Right? So how much money did that cost to repair that road? Before the water main broke, it was a smooth drive. And then because of negligence by the city, the water main broke. And next thing you know, it's now a bumpy ride. Go on Avenue D. Where's all that gravel? Where is the road maintenance? I've had conversations with Rita Hogan online about the $600,000 repair for the city administration building. Where is the public works department continually repairing that building so it doesn't continually degrade so that you run up a $600,000 bill? How much money is the city giving to the Chamber of Commerce, right? In the end, the Chamber of Commerce made 300 and something thousand dollars last year. Expenses were for two employees that made almost $260,000, I believe, and the rest was expenses, minor expenses. So you paid mostly the Chamber of Commerce out of the city budget in salary, right? So and this is where I stand here and say, he needs to be fired. The budget director needs to be fired for going along with him. And if you don't do it, then I'm going to rally up the people. And we're going to start with the mayor. And we're going to recall you. And we're going to run all the way down the line. Right? I say that to say this. I was an army officer. 20 years, I managed budgets twice as much as the city of Copper's Cove. I worked with teams far greater than the size of the city of Copper's Cove employees, right? And we did the best we could with the warfighter in the best stewards of the taxpayer money. You don't do either for the taxpaying citizens of this county or the citizens of the city, right? So Here's another one on top of it. Ryan, what do you pay for taxes on your primary home? This is going to shock everybody, but it's zero. Why is that? Because Ryan gets an offset. Isn't that? I have it right here from the city and from the county, the Coryell CAD, right? Now, you can make a statement in the public or whatever to counter contradict what I'm saying, but it's right here off the Coryell website. roles right here. between him and Arianna Beckman, who decided that she would hide her name off the deed of her own home of the improper dealings that her husband Richard is doing. I don't know.

It seems like there's a lot of- Mayor, I apologize for interrupting Mr. Brown, but your code of ordinance and your charter are specific about addressing personnel matters at Citizens Forum. And I would request, Mayor, that you specifically follow what the voters have approved in the charter. And you, as a council, have approved in the code of ordinance.

DAVID BURRAGE. OK, I'll just continue. I have it here. Anyway, let me make one more connection. Let me make one more connection. Ryan was hired by the city 2011. He was the budget director. Then when the previous city manager left, where did the previous city manager go? Corpus Christi. And what are they dealing with? Huh, a water crisis. Anyway, who stood in as the city manager while doing budget directing? It was Ryan. Who was on the city council at that same time? It was Dan. So I'm just saying, the regime did not change. And we demand change. Is that clear?

That's all I got.

Everybody breathe. OK. My name is Leah Elmore. I live at 1013 Republic Circle. And I am here about, it may sound a little weird now, but paw prints. I approached last year the city about being able to print paw prints around the stadium. When I proposed my plan to start on Joe Lombardi Way, my response was from Kevin Keller with Ryan Havilah and Scott Osborne saying that they were denying that because non-standard marking on roadways will distract and confuse drivers. because painted surfaces, especially paint that is intended to last, become slippery when wet, increasing the risk of crashes. The painted prints will obscure or clash with essential road markings, like lane dividers, crosswalks, or stop lines. Roadways endure consistent wear from vehicles and weather, which will degrade the paint, and they will need to be repainted frequently. Well, first of all, the roads, Joe Lombardi Way, where the junior high is, they only have houses on that street. The only traffic is from the school. There are no markings. There's not even a lane divider. There are no markings on any of these roads to say that paw prints would clash. Second of all, yes, paint will become slippery when wet, but TxDOT has paint for that. You know, just like there's an app for that, they have paint for that. Text-out approved paint can be bought at Sherwin-Williams. We're not asking the city to give us anything. We will buy the paint. We want to put paw prints down. It sounds like this city needs a community event to uplift some spirit around here, because things are sounding a little dim. Seems like we should be able to do some paw prints. um uh slippery when wet really rain copper's cold come on how often is that going to happen i think we've proven it doesn't happen that often and again tax dot has paid for that duh they have paid for that which we can get at sharon williams as i stated before so All of the reasons that I was sent, why it was denied, is really from a Google search. If you search painting on streets, these things come up in that Google search. So really, my plan wasn't even looked at. I was just given a blanket denial by Mr. Havilah and Mr. Osborne without even coming to the table to discuss, to see what the plan was, to see what community wanted to do. I was just given a blank denial. And honestly, I'm insulted by it because You need to treat us citizens like we have some sense, that we're not just going to come and ask to do something that's going to put everybody at risk, but to just throw me a bone. See, I'm not a D-O-G. I'm a D-A-W-G. And I don't appreciate being thrown a bone with a bunch of, I'm not even going to say lies, something to try and make me go away. But one thing you will see, I don't go away. Thank you. I just would like somebody on the council to champion this for me. Call me to the table so we can discuss it. Come up with a project plan, implementation plan, communication plan, and contingency plan, and let's get this thing going.

All right, Fed.

Mayor.

Yes.

In accordance with our charter and our code of ordinance and state law, matters of fact can be stated. And as a matter of fact, the statement that Mr. Brown stated that the city offsets property taxes is a complete fabrication and lie. And Ms. Elmore, I will contact you. It is very specific in state law what we can do. And I can talk to you about that. Thank you.

All right. That concludes citizens forum. We move on to item F, consent agenda.

I thought it was 30 minutes. I'm on the list. Do you want to hear me talk?

It's already been 30 minutes. Oh, really?

Yep.

Okay, okay. Consent agenda.

Consent agenda, all matters listed under this item are considered to be routine by the City Council and will be enacted by one motion. There will not be separate discussion of these items. If discussion is desired, that item will be removed from the consent agenda and considered separately. F1, consideration and action on approval of the Employees Benefit Trust Meeting Minutes for August 18th, 2026. Lisa Wilson, City Secretary. F2, consideration and action on approval of city council regular meeting minutes for August 18th, 2026, Lisa Wilson, city secretary. F3, consideration and action on authorizing the city manager to enter into an interlocal government agreement to share sports and event facilities with the Copper's Cove Independent School District. Jeff Stoddard, director of parks and recreation.

all right council you have three items on the consent agenda is there any item you wish to pull and consider separately all right hearing none is there a motion to approve the consent agenda mr mayor excuse me i make a motion that we approve a consent agenda item f1 through three second motion made mr hawk second by Mr. Treadway, I almost missed that. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? The motion carries. We move to item G, public hearings in action.

A governmental body shall allow each member of the public who desires to address the body regarding an item on an agenda for an open meeting of the body to address the body regarding the item at the meeting before or during the body's consideration of the item. G1, public hearing on the proposed property ad valorem tax rate increase for fiscal year 2026-2027. Arianna Beckman, Director of Budget. Thank you, Ashley.

The time is 6.38. We'll begin the public hearing.

Good afternoon, Council, Mayor, everybody in the audience, those listening in. This item is the required public hearing on the proposed property tax rate for fiscal year 26, 27. On August the 18th, Council voted to propose a tax rate of 69.9 cents per $100 of taxable value. This rate is higher than no new revenue rate of approximately 67.89 cents, but it is below the voter approval rate of approximately 71.45 cents. Because it is above the no new revenue rate, the city is required to hold a public hearing before adopting it. So state law asks that we calculate the increase of the proposed tax rate. So for an average taxable homestead value at $211,600, the proposed rate would result in an increase of $43 more than an estimated bill under the no new revenue rate. The required public notice was published and tonight's hearing gives the residents an opportunity to comment on the proposed rate. So we can now open the public hearing.

All right. Council, do you have any questions specifically for Arianna? All right. Is there anyone who wishes to speak on this public hearing matter?

Good evening. Of course, you know my name. I've been here twice. I don't want to be here, but you guys pursue me to be here. All right? Don't pass this. Citizens are already struggling. We're going by paycheck to paycheck. Obviously, you guys are not affected. I've seen your houses. I've seen your properties. I've seen what you accumulated. I know certain people do certain things, not pay taxes. So we're the ones that fit the bill. Infrastructure. Garbage. Y'all guys did a survey in 2019 from RJN Group. Cost $572,000. The citizens, not you guys, citizens paid for that. Nothing got done. You want to raise the taxes now because we need to fix this. We need to fix that. Should have fixed it before. I know some of you guys just came in. You don't water. You should have jumped on this from the get-go. You should have had that proposal in your hand about the water. You come from Belton, right? You were on the board. You should have known that. Most of y'all worked in government. Y'all recycle. There's people on the zoning board that recycle. Used to be on the city council. So it's like, I don't know. What's going on? We shouldn't pass this. This shouldn't be passed. This shouldn't be passed. The water rate shouldn't be passed. It's just ridiculous. It's like, you wanted us whole? We're whole now. We are networking. We are finding your flaws. We are finding your personal stuff. And we're going to find more. And we will release it. Don't pass this. If you pass this, we're going to do it. We're going to release everything. Because y'all think y'all smart. We'll find everything. Trust me. We'll find everything. Your little 30-page budgeting that y'all put online for us to look at, Ronnie got it for 2,500 pages. And because if she didn't put it for social media, she would have never got it. So like I said before, transparency. You guys haven't been transparent. Look into your hearts. You sit here and pray. Say pray on this, pray on that. But are you praying for yourselves? Or are you praying for us? Think about it. I could talk politics. I could talk whatever. Real men serve others. Weak men serve themselves. I'm not going to say who said it, because a lot of people don't like them. But don't pass this. Y'all should look into this. Y'all are citizens. Y'all pay taxes. You pay a lot of taxes. I know that. I looked at your stuff. You pay taxes. You know what I'm saying? We're going to do more research, because this is not over. So I suggest y'all look into it. Postpone this. I know you got a time frame. But I say postpone this, because like I said, everybody here is going to be. We're not tech savvy, but we will be. So I suggest don't pass this.

Thank you.

I have four on the Sign Up for Citizens Forum. Do you want to give them the first opportunity at the mic, or do you just want to open it in general?

If it's about this subject, that's fine. Next up is Mario Vasquez.

Good morning.

Good afternoon. My name is Mario. I own First Edition Bookstore and also a program called Tacos. You know, it'd be nice one day to have a podium, just a little suggestion. I don't know if we have money in the budget for a little podium. I'm glad you got, I was called to talk today, try to avoid these because they lead nowhere. Every time we come and speak, I tell the people, you guys are not listening. You're on your own agenda, you're going somewhere else, you have already a plan to go to a different route. The people here have cried, so I wrote this. What did we do to deserve this? And what did we do to you to bleed us from every cent that we ever saved? How much money do you think we have in our view for the people, the citizens here in the community? Why do you continue to ignore us when we're crying out for help? After all you have already taken every dollar, every cent the community tries to save and now it feels as though you're taking from the future children of Copper's Cove. You're entering territory that as parents we must defend, protect our future and sustainability. That's every parent, every bloodline from all walks of life in Copper's Cove. As parents we must stand up and stop decisions that are no longer sustainable for the citizens of the community for the future of our children. And let me tell you again, what did we do to deserve this? What? I keep asking every day, every time I talk online or mention something, I want to know, what did we do to deserve these extra fees that you're bringing up? You claim to serve the people, yet you continue to ignore the families, the citizens affected by the crisis. Instead of solutions, we see bonds, taxes, fees, and now threats of a $2,000 fine for that water break if you use it. If you're not listening, you have no plans, only fees, asking for more money, then why are you sitting in those seats? Why are you sitting there? And what do we do to deserve this? The city system of failure has taken its toll. It has led me down a road that I never wish to travel. The late nights, the research, the countless hours I spent studying budgets, records, and policies have revealed something deeply concerning to me. The more I dig, the more I uncover. The roots are no longer buried. They're exposed in the chaotic nature of the city's manage. It's very alarming. I am working on a series of videos of exposing what appears to be the same playbook year after year, finding new ways to generate revenue while the same problem remains unresolved and economic growth stagnates. And we spoke about this before these public-private conversations we had. You have no economic growth. There's nothing pipeline between the schools and the citizens to come here to work. The kids have no pipeline. They go to Austin, everywhere to go get jobs. So the problem identified, I found a problem in 2002. You think it does nothing to do with this. It still exists today. I was researching correspondence from a Coral County DA named David Castile, who in 2006, 2007, raised many of the same questions the citizens are asking now, including questions about certificates of obligations and management of public funds. Nearly two decades later, I'm still finding the same problems, same borrowing, and the same unresolved issues involving streets, infrastructure, the Civic Center, the golf course, and other city assets. It continues to evolve without no answers, and you're relying on CO bonds to get this patched up, and it's not working. Decades of dead yet, same problems remain. The strategy changes, the rhetoric changes, but the results do not. How much longer will the future generation be expected to pay for yesterday's promises, and what did we do to deserve this? What do we do? Live here. In only one year alone, I found a $5,000 bond fund expenditure that appears to have been used for a salary, not for the purpose of vote that was voted that you promised. The time and again, money seems to move away from the original intent, while officials return asking for more debt and more taxes. The questionable budget item is so numerous, it is hard to document all of them. In the end, it doesn't matter because you seem to always have a technical explanation for everything. And one thing that cannot be ignored, as much as everyone's been speaking, I wrote the same thing, is a rapid growth in salaries at the top levels of the city government. The city manager's office, twice the rate we had for the last several years. Let me make it clear because I believe the city employees that work under you guys deserve better. They don't need to get pounded by the citizens. I've always mentioned that to everyone. They have nothing to do with the decisions the leaders make. So go pay your bill. Don't treat them bad because they deserve the raises. They deserve more than we see. So don't go blame them for anything. But over the years, I've spoken one-on-one with many city leaders about issues affecting our committee. I spoke with the city manager about deterioration in buildings and potential public safety hazards. I spoke with economic development leadership to Mr. Wells regarding concerns about the economic development in the past. I talked about public safety, you know, with Mr. Wilson. I told him how the crime was going to go up. You remember that meeting we had? You said it won't. I said 2017 was epitome. It showed the temperature gauge what Coppice Cove can do. And during that time, we had a house blow up. We had fire people doing drugs. We had child sex trafficking. We had so many crimes for a small community of 40,000 people. It's insane. Even at the library, which I'm not gonna mention more of that, but there is a case there that we've been following. I spoke one-on-one with council members about the importance of demonstrating a different path forward to the community. You have to talk to county leaders and just clean the district DA about citizens being arrested on a misdemeanor and it's, you know, and then make it into a felony and then to later release it to a misdemeanor costing the city thousands and thousands of dollars and why the sheriff's department is so full. It all makes an impact. It makes an impact for our community, for our environment, but you still have no solutions. All you have is sealed bonds and taxes and fees. Unfortunately, the Chamber of Commerce is not engaged in the meaningful conversation to provide clear accountability of how public supported funds are spent. And I am proud that I built my business without the Chamber's membership, and I can reach my customers directly. When public money is involved, transparency and accountability should be expected, not avoided. Transparency should be the standard, not avoided. But yet, here we are. Every time I ask questions or send a letter of disclosure, I'm not allowed to ask. And I have the letter written between me and the city manager said, I don't have the right to ask these questions. I do, according to the AG. We have spent millions on projects like the golf course, and I'm gonna give you the right numbers, $1.6 million, through general funds. While many of the committee court's issues remain unresolved, the problems that justify past bonds still exist today, then we need to ask whether our priorities have been misplaced. And for the last few months, I've been talking about priorities, and our priorities seem to be the golf course. But yet our main lines have broken. All this stuff that we're dealing with should have been resolved many years ago. This has been happening since 2002, and we're still repeating today the same thing that happened 20 years ago. When is enough? When enough is enough. You know, property taxes rises, debt grows, families are left carrying the burden. People are no longer just asking questions. They're seeing the pattern, and they're growing tired of it. But now we're paying attention. We're becoming invested in the decisions being made on our behalf. We've done our part. Now it's time for you to do yours. And to answer the questions, we did nothing wrong. We don't deserve another fee, another two. And I also understand what you guys are doing. I keep up with your standards where you're trying to build new business and charging more money. But right now, those are just talking points. They're not leading anywhere. But I thank you very much for allowing me to come here today. Appreciate you so much, and thank you for everyone. Thank you.

During the public hearing, just like in...

Citizens Forum, you're limited to five minutes. Go ahead.

My name is Andy Remedies, 2402 Griffin Drive. I just want to kind of speak on the proposed budget, and specifically some of the proposed fees for some of the businesses. As many of you know, many of you visit my restaurant. In the budget, it's not hidden or it's not something that maybe the public is very aware of, but some fees across the commercial board are going up. Most notably, the food health inspection is almost two and a half times proposed to increase, and that is quite a significant jump. We would be remiss if we don't acknowledge that the price of everything goes up. That's just the way it's always been since the dawn of time. I would just like the city council, when you're considering the budget, if you could consider some of those items. It's not unreasonable for a business owner to understand that the cost of something goes up. My eggs are $1 more per 60 than they were last week, and I understand that happens. So as you consider the budget, please, on behalf of some of the smaller guys, even some of the bigger guys, like that's still an increased cost, maybe scale it back is all I'm considering. We don't have to make up such a large gap all at one time. That's all I have. Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Ms. Squires, did you want to?

Sure, I can throw some budget stuff in there.

Melody Squires, 212 Robertstown Road. I remember when I first talked here, still suffering from PTSD, and now I'm used to the group. Big difference. Well, I had a couple things, a lot of positive, but some budget-wise, yeah, I'm not for the water increases with all of that. And then my other question on the budget, which I guess I'll have to get with city council. And one thing I want to say to everyone is I know whenever I would ask city council, everything is apparent out there. They will give me the information I've been to the. conference co-citizens leadership academy the second course the third one's there they teach us everything all sorts of stuff who to talk to where things are on the website people talk about the roads what's being built everyone's complaining they don't think anything is but there's sites out there that tell you what's there so just from where i'm coming from i know everything's online but i am curious on the roads i mean when they're doing these water after hours and all this extra how much we have in the budget for that like the overtime I'm just curious about that the overtime of the water because I know during regular hours that would be included in so that would be a little bit extra The golf course, whenever I asked, I said, I can go and find out. And I know some of the golf course contributing factors is bringing in some of the richer people that would pay more in taxes. So sometimes it's not just money. It's other things that are brought in. And I've been told that. I don't like all the fees. I wouldn't want to be the counsel. I sat here. And I feel so bad because there's so many things I don't want to be taxed. but there's so many things I want to fund. And it is a hard decision to make if I was sitting in your shoes, and in the mayor's shoes, and in the city manager. I was in the army in military pay, but when I was stationed in England, and I had British employees working for me, and I worked in accounts payable, and I understand funding, and you can't move money from one fund to another. You know, and I handled millions and millions for the whole installation. You know, so this is where I'm coming from. I understand a lot of the budget, but I still wouldn't want to be here. That being said, I'm going to give the city council an A-, and I'm going to give the city manager a B. And that's all I want to say. Thank you.

Thank you.

Mr. Clyde Miller, do you want to speak on that?

Good afternoon. My name is Clyde Miller, 3252 Logsdon. I really didn't come here to talk about the budget because I've been here before talking about the budget and it's kind of like beating a dead horse. I know you guys have already made up your mind. You're going to do what you're going to do and you're going to leave the citizens to do what we have to do. But when it comes to the budget, you're not looking at the long picture, okay? Every time you add these Okay, road maintenance. When you say road maintenance, how many of the roads are county roads? How many of the roads are state roads? How many of the roads are city roads? And where is that money actually going? Because if you take out the state roads, that's the state of Texas responsibility, not ours. You say county roads, that's the county's responsibility, not ours. So which roads are this money going to really repair? None. And then if you have any sense of all of them, mathematically wise, and you know anything about asphalt, that little feed you're tacking on, it won't even cover two miles. It won't. So let's be honest. Just ditch it. Get rid of it. It is not worth the headache that you're suffering here. Okay? So just abolish it. Now, when we go back to property taxes, okay, you raise the taxes because you say, we need to do this, we need to do that. Fine. Like the gentleman said, whatever you're going to do, put it out there so we can read it. Comprehensively, not in 31 pages. Just like when you go get a loan. Debt to income. Do the same thing here. This is what our debt is for the citizens, for the city of Copper Scope. This is the income that's coming in. So we can look at it and say, Jesus, we need to do something else so that we can balance the books. We, when I say we, the citizens. Not you guys and gals sitting up there. The citizens, because we're the ones paying. So that's what I have to say about the budget. Now, because I'm an old Army dog and I was always taught, you don't complain unless you have a solution. Here's my solution. Everyone behind me is smarter than I am. Everyone. That's how I taught my soldiers. You're always smarter than I am. Now, I'm going to tell you a little bit about me. I'm one of these old guys that grew up in the nuclear world. So I didn't go to my soldiers and say, hey, we got a problem on this line one, and I know how to fix it. I would say, we got a problem on this line one. Line one is a nuclear warhead. We've got a problem on this line one. Let's find a quick, easy, sustainable way to fix this so this doesn't happen. So we did things as a group. That's how we resolve problems. This is what we need to do here. Stop sitting there saying we have all the answers as city council and budget immediately and say, hey, we're going to give you guys some problems at this meeting. On the next meeting, come back with some solutions so we can solve this as a city. That's how you fix stuff. And when you do that, be transparent. Come and say, hey, here's a problem. We're running a deficit. And if anybody is paying attention when you drive around here, a garbage truck runs about how much? between $150,000 and $400,000, every time you increase a neighborhood, you've got to buy one. So you're running a deficit. Every time you lay out on the street, you're running a deficit. So to say, well, this is going to be the last tax increase, that is not true. Mathematically, you can't say that. Because every time you throw up a neighborhood, you're running a deficit. And the reason you're running a deficit is because you let developers use you like a dirty rag. You really do. And I can say that because I used to be a developer. When you let a developer come into your neighborhood, he's already got his money in his pocket from the bank. He's already bought the land cheap. And he's going to throw up all these problems and say, okay, you're going to generate all this tax revenue for each house I build. That's not true. How many are going to go into foreclosures? How many are going to be bought by a veteran? How many are going to be bought by an investor? So you may never see that tax revenue on those houses he or she throws up. But for the next 30, 40 years, you, the city, is liable for that neighborhood. You are. And we're liable because you guys are going to move on to better waters. So we're stuck with the building. So my suggestion, stop treating us like we're a separate entity and say, hey guys, here's the problem. Hey guys, let's get together and let's come up with some solutions. You'll find that things work a lot better that way. It really does. That's all I got.

Is there anybody else?

My name is Angelina Nield. I am a resident here of Copper's Cove. I actually just got my bill for this month and reviewed it. So I just wanted to throw some numbers out so that we can kind of just hone in on you're wanting to increase taxes increase water rates whatever that may be but there's also other rates that i'm also concerned about so my bill which i have in my bag if you'd all like to see it i'd be willing to share with anyone but my bill itself was 197 dollars and five cents the current charges though aren't primarily caused by the water My water itself is only $57.44. The rest of the charges is a $10 drainage plus $45.60 wastewater plus 27.28 solid waste plus 2.29 tax plus 10 street maintenance plus two times, I don't know why, but I got charged this double on my bill, the $20.30 for the recycling charge, plus another, the 2020, or 2030 recycling charge, plus another $3.34 additional sewer water tax. Okay. So that's how my water bill for my water usage went from $57.44 for water charge, then it became $197.05 on my utility bill. That's outrageous. That's like three times my water bill. Three times. OK, so I'm not saying that I shouldn't pay taxes. I'm not saying that I shouldn't pay for my water. I'm saying there's some outrageous other fees that are on my bill, OK? So I was like, OK, maybe they have some legitimate reasons for this. Let's do a comparison, OK? Let's do a comparison of some other cities around. So I did that. So let me, I'm gonna scroll down here on some of my notes. So let's go with this. Lampas' official site currently lists its street maintenance fee charge of $7 a month, compared with Copper's Cove's, $10. Copper's Cove is 42%, 42.9% higher. We are 42.9% higher than Lampas'. Any explanations? Okay. Interestingly, Copper's Cove, okay, on its 2025 study used, this is what's interesting, y'all used for the 2025 budget land passes as a comparison. What? I mean, that blows my mind. So you used land passes as a comparison, you charged us more, and now you said you don't have enough? There's a problem. There's a problem with that. And that's not even the water. This is just a maintenance fee charge that everybody, all of us, are paying. For why? Especially when your comparison was done to land passes, which is less, and they're able to budget theirs, but you can't budget yours. That's a problem. That's a budgeting problem. OK, so let's go through this. So land passes, they certainly do have charges for their municipal services, for its utility bill, water, waste, sanitization, electric, street maintenance fees. They have that too, just like us, OK? So Copper's Cove charged the $27 0.78 for garbage plus 10 for drainage plus 10 for street maintenance equals 47.78 a month before even considering the water, the waste, or the taxes. None of that. Let's go to Lampas's comparable published garbage plus street maintenance. It equaled out to be $33.31. That's a difference of approximately $14.47, or 100, listen up folks, okay, everybody in this community that's behind me, that is $173.64 a year extra that every single one of these citizens are paying you. more than land passes.

We need to wrap it up.

OK. So hold on. So that means that Copperas Cove is about 43% higher, 43% higher on those particular reoccurring charges. OK?

Ma'am.

So. I'm going to wrap it up really quick. I will do that really quick. But here's the thing. I did a comparison for also Copperas Cove against, please, citizens, do this, OK? Go do a comparison against Copperas Cove compared to Killeen, compared to Hawker Heights, compared to Lampasas, compared to Gatesville, and compared to Belton, and side by side, over and over and over again, We are higher, consistently higher than all these other cities.

OK, ma'am. I'm going to have to cut you off. almost six minutes and 15 seconds. OK.

So I'm going to say one last thing, and then I'll be done. So before you consider raising taxes or increasing water, then there needs to be an explanation for why all these other charges are so much greater than other communities and why we're not able to do what we need to do.

Anyone else? All right. I want to say something.

I just want to say we're all here for the same thing. No one's happy with the Waterville. We own the city. Y'all work for us. Why is there dirty roads?

Why is there broken roads everywhere? If you'd like to speak, check in with Kevin. Hi, Kevin. I'll give you a second.

I would like to speak.

OK. All right, the, I'm sorry. Okay, Arianna, did you need, you need to say something? No. Oh, okay. Oh, okay. Did you want to?

Yeah, I can come?

Come ahead.

Okay. So, many people have brought up the streets. Our streets are trash. There's nothing for the community to do. There's nothing for our children to do. We used to have skating. We have nothing. Y'all want more money, but we don't see what you did with the money. Why are the streets still so tore up? Why are these old raggedy buildings still standing? But you want more money. I need y'all to think about the people that are living here, not just y'all. We're all living here. And we don't see no improvement. We don't see where you're putting our money. When I get a flat tire, who's paying for that? Because these roads are getting pretty bad with this patch job that's happening. Down Avenue D or whatever, it's all broke up. All over the place. Let's give her the floor. We're paying maintenance fees, but the roads are not drivable. The town is, you want more money, but the town is dated. It's old. There's nothing. There's nothing for the community even, but you want us to keep giving. Half of the people don't even want to live here no more. I worked hard to buy my house, and all I'm doing is paying like $200 water bills. That's insane. That's insane when we don't see no improvement around here. And the water infrastructure thing, if it's so bad, why don't y'all start building a new one next to it that will sustain all these people that y'all say we're using too much water, but you're letting buildings and houses come here. Why don't you build a new one and then wait for that to be built and tear down the old one? I mean, there's things you can do besides sitting here listening to us complain when we can work together and make it better. Starting with the streets and the water bills.

Hi, my name is Shakira Ramos. I'm new to Copper's Cove and I've been seeing the voices of concern. I don't have all the problems, like I haven't experienced all this water things, but I moved here and I plan to stay here. I would like to stay here, but this concerns me. And I moved here and I have no water pressure in my house. I've installed a pressure pump, I've done all this other stuff, but I have no pressure. What concerns me is all these issues that everybody's talking about, right? And I'm here for the long haul, but it concerns me that all these issues, and I still don't have pressure in my house, and I have to keep on buying things to get pressure from my house, which I don't think I should have to do that, considering, like she said, everybody's paying all these outrageous rates for water. Shit, her, I'm sorry, but her water bill is cheaper than mine. I'm a single mom. I have one kid who's 29. There's two people in my house. My water bill's $300. Ask me how, why, I don't know. I'm on every little budget plan I can think of, and I've called the cities like, hey, do I have a water leak or something? I get the same thing over and over. Nothing's wrong, nothing's going on. But I find it really crazy that I have one patch of my house where it's all green, but everything else is dead. So there's concern about water leaks. We have water leaks and stuff. Hell, my house could be the one that's leaking all the water, wasting water. But I need somebody to come and check. I can call all the plumbers that I need to call, but hell, they don't know. Sorry. I'm just passionate because I understand that everybody here, we all have the same voice and the same concerns. Like I said, I'm new to all this, and I'm here because I see all the posts. I see everybody's concerns. And I'm going to be that person here too. And I'm going to be here every single time for these meetings because I plan to be here for the long run. And what I'm concerned about is I know that we have all these new things coming in. The VA, I live right down the street from the VA. I see the development going on. What I'm concerned about now is all that water and all that stuff that we're doing. The VA is not one bathroom, two bathrooms. There's going to be water and all that stuff flowing. Is my pressure going to go lower? Am I going to have to buy more pressure pumps? Am I going to have to buy a drill or put a well in my backyard just to maintain my own water level? That's why I'm here, and that's why I want to voice my concern to you because there's people that, yes, they've been here for 30, 40 years, 20-something years. I've only been here for three, and I'm already witnessing this as a new person in Copper's Cove, and I don't want to be here for another 30, 40 years complaining about the same things that everybody else is complaining. So that's my concern, and that's all I have to say. Thank you for listening. Sorry, and I'm just gonna say, I know that y'all hate Californians and stuff like that, but I came here from California, and the water is cheaper in California than I'm paying here in California. So I'd just like to announce that.

You didn't have anything. All right. The time is 7.14. We will close the public hearing. We move on to item H, action items.

H1, consideration and action on appointments, reappointments to the Quality of Life Advisory Board. Jeff Stoddard, Director of Parks and Recreation.

Thank you, Ashley. Evening, Mayor, Council, City Manager. Quality Life Board was established, City Council, December 6th, 2016. We currently have four voting position vacancies and three alternate non-voting vacancies. The vacancies were advertised and the city received five applications that you see before you. Two of them are returning. One, Vicki Cantrell, Jill Holmes, Amy Williams, previously served on the board some time ago, and then two brand new candidates, Robert Doyle and Jamia Zarzula. City staff recommends City Council review the attached volunteer applications and take appropriate action to fill the vacancies on the Quality Life Advisory Board as follows. Four voting positions for a term from September 1, 2026 to August 31, 2028. And we can also add that alternate in there if you'd like.

TODD BANDUCCI. Council, what's your pleasure? There's four voting positions. Do you have any nominations?

Mr. Mayor? Yes. Thank you. I would like to nominate for voting position vacancies Vicki Cantrell, Jill Holmes, Robert Doyle, and Amy Williams to fill the non-voting vacancy for Jamia Zarzuela. I hope I pronounced that correctly.

OK. Second.

Any other nominations? Well, I guess that's it. Anybody have different nominations? Let me put it that way.

OK. Do we need to vote individually? OK.

So the motion was to vote for the four voting positions, Vicki Cantrell, Doyle, Holmes, Williams. And the alternate is Zarzula. I hope I pronounced it correctly. I'm sorry.

Any questions, council?

All right, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? The motion carries. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Move to item H2.

Consideration and action on approval of ordinance number 2026-24, adopting the capital outlay plan for fiscal year 2027-2031 and approving the official capital outlay plan for fiscal year 2026-2027. Arianna Beckman, Director of Budget.

Thank you, Ashley. Again, Mayor and Council, this item is to approve the city's Capital Alley Plan for fiscal years 27 through 2031. We started working on this plan back in December when departments submitted their anticipated vehicle, equipment, and other capital needs. Those requests were then reviewed and prioritized by the departments and the Capital Alley Committee. During the review, some things that were considered were age and the condition of the city's current equipment, maintenance cost, operational needs, and anticipated replacement schedules. Council reviewed a draft of this plan during March the 3rd workshop, and we incorporated Council's direction into the final version presented tonight. The full five-year plan includes 234 items with an estimated cost of $25.9 million. Of that amount, the plan for fiscal year 26-27 includes 51 items totaling approximately $4.48 million. This plan helps us look ahead and prioritize the city's capital needs. The amounts that are shown for later years, our planning estimates, and we will be reviewing those again as part of each year's budget process. So staff's recommendation is approval of the attached ordinance.

Uh, Mr. Mayor, I'll make a motion that we approve item ACE three. Ordinance number 2026 dash 25, adopting the capital improvement plan for fiscal year, 2027, 2031, and improving the official capital improvement plan for fiscal year, 2026, 2027, Arianna Beckman, director of budget.

Okay. Second.

Mr. Mayor?

Yes.

I think he just approved the capital improvement plan and not the capital outlay plan. Correct. Or voted, made a motion.

You want to draw that? Yeah, we'll draw that. We'll start over.

How about that? I make a motion that we approve item H2, consideration of action, approving the ordinance 2026-24, adopting the capital quality plan for fiscal year 2027-2031, and approving the official capital quality plan for fiscal year 2026-2027. Arianna Beckman, Director of Budget.

Okay.

Second.

Motion made by Mr. Hogg, seconded by Mr. Treadway. Discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? The motion carries. We move to item H3.

Consideration and action on approval of ordinance number 2026-25, adopting the capital improvement plan for fiscal year 2027-2031, and approving the official capital improvement plan for fiscal year 2026-2027. Arianna Beckman, Director of Budget.

Mayor and council, this item is to approve the city's capital improvement plan for fiscal year 27 through 31. Again, as it was the case with COP, we started developing this plan back in December when departments submitted their proposed capital projects for the next five years. These requests were reviewed based on infrastructure needs, population growth, service demands, and other operational priorities. Council has received a draft of this plan during the March the 3rd workshop, and we have incorporated Council's direction into the version presented tonight. The plan includes major projects such as street and drainage improvements, water and wastewater infrastructure, parks projects, and improvements to city facilities. For fiscal year 26-27, the plan identifies 23 projects totaling $37.3 million. The projects are primarily planned to be funded through certificates of obligation. Approval of this plan does not authorize the debt issuance. The certificates of obligation will come back to council for separate consideration approval in the next fiscal year. The five-year plan totals $215 million like the capital plan. This is a planning document. Projects and costs in the later years will continue to be reviewed and updated through the annual budget process. Staff's recommendation is approval of the attached ordinance. And just one more thing, Mayor, for some of the citizens wanting to know more about what streets are being worked on or planning to be worked on, the document attached here is Exhibit A. Also, you can find it on the city website under the Budget Department. It lists all those different projects by year and cost. That's all I have. DAVID BURRAGE.

Thank you, council. Questions? Did you have a comment?

OK. Any questions for Arianna? All right. Is there a motion to be made on this item?

Mr. Mayor? Yes. I make a motion that we approve ordinance number 2026-25, adopting the capital improvement plan for fiscal year 2027 to 2031, and formally approving the CIP for fiscal year 2627.

Second.

Motion made by Mr. Hale, seconded by Mrs. Strophus.

Any other discussion? All right. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? The motion carries. We move to item H4.

Consideration and action on approval of ordinance number 2026-26, adopting the personal improvement plan for fiscal year 2027 through 2031, and approving the official personal improvement plan for fiscal year 2026-2027. Arianna Beckman, director of budget.

This item is to approve city's personnel improvement plan for fiscal year 27 through 31. As it was the case with the other two long-range plans, we began developing this plan back in December when departments submitted their staffing requests for the next five years. Those requests were reviewed based on service demands, operational needs, population growth, and anticipated future services. Council reviewed a draft of the plan during the March 3rd workshop and we incorporated Council's direction given since then into the final plan presented tonight. The plan is divided into two sections of positions funded in the proposed budget and the positions identified as future needs. This allows us to address the upcoming year while also showing council staffing needs departments expect in later years. For fiscal year 26-27, the plan increases the city's total staffing from 323 to 329.5 full-time equivalent positions. The 6.5 additional positions include an assistant city manager, a development services manager, three positions in water distribution, one street maintenance operator, and the conversion of a part-time kennel assistant to full-time in the animal control. The plan also includes several position reclassifications within the municipal court, police, and the fire department. The total estimated financial impact is approximately $813,000. This includes salaries and benefits, as well as equipment, furniture, vehicles, or other resources needed to support these positions. Funding has been included in the proposed fiscal year 26-27 budget. Staff's recommendation is approval of the ordinance.

All right, council, any questions for Ms. Beckman? All right, hearing none, is there a motion to be made on this item?

Mr. Mayor, I make a motion that we approve ordinance number 2026-26, Adopting the Personal Improvement Plan for Fiscal Year 2731, and formally approve the PIP for fiscal year 2627. Second.

All right, motion by Mr. Hales, seconded by Mr. Hawk. Any other discussion? OK. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. We move to item H5.

Consideration and action on Ordinance 2026-27, Adopting the City's Fee Schedule. Arianna Beckman, Director of Budget.

Thank you, Ashley. This item is to approve the city's updated fee schedule for fiscal year 26-27. The proposed changes were previously reviewed and discussed with Council during the budget process. All those items that are being changed in the attachment here are highlighted in yellow. But the more significant changes include adjustments to water, sewer, drainage, and solid waste, and those are based on the utility rate study. Other changes include in Parks and Recreation, the entire six-hour half-day field use option is being removed. This includes the half-day rental rate, field preparation, and maintenance charges, and the bundled baseball, softball, soccer, and football rates. Separate individual field rental and game preparation fees remain in the schedule. The all-day tournament field rate is being reduced from $195 to $150. The baseball and softball preparation fee is increasing from $50 to $60, and a new $15 per field restoration fee is being added. The tournament vendor fee has been reduced from $75 to $50. The registration blitz discount of the volunteer head coach incentive for tackle football are also being removed. For building and development fees, those are generally being adjusted by 3%. The $60 permit fee for accessory structures up to 144 square feet is being removed. And a new $5 card processing fee is being added. Development services fees, including plaids, zoning, land use, and permit fees are also being adjusted by 3%. A new annexation notice and publication fee is being added. The library is expanding its no-charge membership eligibility to include Killeen and Fort Hood residents as well as current Copperas Cove Independent School District students and staff. under code and health fees there's some updates there as well the document mailing fee is increasing from five dollars to ten dollars the annual health inspection fee from 100 to 260 and the non-profit inspection fee from 50 to 130. the annual health permit replacement fees increasing from 25 to 30, the late fee from 30 to 50, and a new $200 permit reinstatement fee is being added. Fire-related changes include increasing the inspection fee for certain licensed facilities with 50 or more occupants from 100 to 150, A new $50 annual permit fee is also being added for mobile food vehicles and trailers. Finally, the animal microchip fee is being reduced from $20 to $10. The updated fee schedule will take effect October 1, 2026. If there's any specific questions of the utility rates, we have staff here to address those. But that concludes the presentation of this item, and staff's recommendation is approval of the ordinance.

Mr. Mayor? Yes. There is an item that I would like to actually look at more closely. The health inspection fee for 100, I'm proposing it to go to 200. So approval of this item, however, with the decrease of the health inspection fee to 200. Okay.

mayor yes you can gain consensus especially if there's more than one change or a motion can be made to approve the ordinance with a specific change to a line and the fee related to that line okay absolutely mr mayor yes if i may also the annual health inspection fee for non-profits which was going to 50 to 130 i'd like to recommend to set that at a hundred dollars

OK. All right. Council, is there? Let's just do it this way. Is there a consensus on that item? And I'll go back to the first one. I support.

I support.

All right. Let's go back to the first item that Ms. Hart said.

Is there a consensus on that change? I support that.

OK.

I support. I support.

Any other changes? So the motion would be to approve the fee schedule with the two changes. Do we need to specify that specifically in the motion?

It would be beneficial, yes.

OK. Somebody get that information? Ms. Hart, can you?

I'm working on it, Mr. Mayor. Okay. And that was a non-profit as well. Okay.

If somebody else already has the language, go ahead and make the motion. If somebody's quicker than me. You ready?

Yes, sir. Okay, go ahead. Okay, thank you. I make a motion that we approve Ordinance 2026 through 27, adopting the city's updated fee schedule with the amendment of the health inspection fee from 100 to 200 and the nonprofit inspection fee from 50 to 100.

Second.

OK. Motion made and a second.

Any other discussion? All right. Hearing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? The motion carries. We move to item H6.

Consideration and action on ordinance number 2026-28, approving and adopting the budget and plan of municipal services of the City of Copperas Cove for fiscal year 2026 through 2027. Arianna Beckman, Director of Budget.

Mayor and council, this item is to adopt the city's budget and plan of municipal services for fiscal year 26-27. The proposed budget was first presented to council on June 16 and reviewed by council during workshops held from March through August. The required public hearing was held on July 30 and no public comments were received. The final budget includes all changes directed by council, including city hall renovations, personnel reclassifications, additional funding for non-city agencies, and revised debt service costs based on the final 26 Certificates of Obligation project list. The total budget is approximately $77.2 million across all city funds. It includes the proposed property tax rate, utility rate adjustments, funded personnel changes, and the capital plans previously discussed. A breakdown of the revenues, expenditures, and projected fund balance for each fund is provided in the attached exhibit A. State law requires that the budget be adopted before the property tax rate, which is scheduled for consideration later tonight. So staff recommendation is approval of the ordinance by a record roll call vote.

Right, Mayor. Thank you, thank you. Mayor and Council, as y'all are quite aware, we began the budget development process in November of last year, but very specifically with you in a workshop, a planning session, we began having these discussions in February. And so I think it's really important. I think there was a public comment that was shared earlier in the beginning of the meeting about not being transparent in more than one comment shared with that. And I would really encourage those who are highly interested and deeply critical of the local government and the city council, even me, that if you have concerns, share it with this body and with me. No, sir? No, sir? Stop, stop, stop.

Stop. Stop, sir.

So I would highly encourage you to ask us those questions. There's a lot of information on the website. If you don't find what you're looking for, call us. Because we will share that with you. And I am sorry that there is great frustration with this process. It is not a simple process. And there are a couple of reasons why it's not a simple process. One, it's a large organization and it's a complex organization. That's not an excuse. There's a couple of other reasons. The state legislature requires us to follow very specific processes and procedures for this governing body to consider a budget and actually adopt that budget. There's specific details that must be included in that budget, which they are. There's a lot of information out there. A lot of people have submitted open records requests, and we fulfill those open records requests. With those open records requests, whatever information is released, anybody can share anywhere, and they do. Anybody does. And that's fine. But if you have questions about the records that are released, the information that's in there, ask us. This governing body has been discussing the budget for the past seven months at this point. And in those past seven months, as citizens, and even outside of those seven months, you have every opportunity, and I would encourage you to take those opportunities, to have those critical, highly critical questions and comments with us We have not hid anything. Ask us the information, we'll give it to you. We have no problem doing that. In fact, we're required to do it. But there is a process that the governing body must go through in order to get to this point today on adopting a budget. And the last thing I would say is if any residents and citizens have a problem with any city employees, you can put all of that frustration on me. Our employees that serve this community do it with full dedication to serve every single resident in this community. diminishing and degrading employees or their family members is not acceptable. You want to do that? Come to me. This governing body appoints me. They supervise me. They evaluate me. They make the decisions at the highest level. And besides me, there's only three other individuals that this governing body appoints and is responsible for. Don't go down the road that much of our community has gone down, please. We can be a very civilized community. Your council is listening to everything that you said about the fees, about taxes, but it is also their responsibility to take action, whatever action that is. Once they take the action, it's my responsibility to fulfill it. Mr. Sanchez, call me one day. I want you to call me one day. Let's start with a relationship first. So Mayor, I appreciate you giving me the time. I think with the direction that you as a council have given on the preparation of the budget, the fees, the tax rate, we are here today for you to take final action on those items. And after that, then we begin that next process. And thank you.

Thank you, Ryan. Just so everybody knows, we're citizens too. We live here. We do that. We pay the taxes too. We're affected by the water rates. We're affected by all the fees that are out there. There's nobody lining your pockets. These council members get paid $25 per meeting to take some of the abuse that they take to try to do what's best for all of the city of Copperas Cove. It is not an easy job. And they do it because they want to do the best that we can for the city. It's easy to sit back and complain. It's a little bit harder to come up with the solutions. And I can assure you that we've gone through this budget. agonized over every single decision out there. It has not been an easy thing. It has not been done flippantly. It is done with forethought of where we are and where we're trying to get to. And this city deserves the best that it can do. You elected these people to serve on there to do your best interest. And I'm talking about all 40,000 citizens of Copper's Cove doing the very best job that they possibly can. I've been here, you're right, I've been here quite a while. But I've always, always, always done every vote that I've ever made is for the best interests of the city. It necessarily was agreed upon by everybody else, but that's why we're here, to try to do what's best for the city. So that's my two cents. All right. Council, any? Discussion on this?

If I may, if I can have a few minutes, please. I'd just like to cover the water and infrastructure. First of all, I know our infrastructure is old. I understand that this whole country's infrastructure is old, not just Copper's Cove, but the counties, the state, other communities. And I did misspeak the last time I said something. I said a city west of us. But there's a city northeast of us. that has not maintained what they need to do, okay? From whatever the case may be, everything, okay? And it's a fact, it's been all in the news. I don't wanna end up like them, okay? And I was asked for comparison one day, that's what I said. And I'm gonna go back to what I said a few months ago. elected officials from different levels, including industries, businesses, and public people, back in the 40s and 50s, they come up with this water infrastructure for Texas along the Corps of Engineers, build all these reservoirs. It does cost a ton of money to maintain them, okay? When we put out beds, unfortunately, we get charged more than private industry does, okay? We're also responsible for paying to help maintain the plant out Lake Belton, which has four plants. okay and also still house which we have some water rights too but they got us to where we're at now and it cost a lot of money back then okay but we're here now and i understand everybody's frustration i have it too but we have to take care of our future generations not just us okay but our kids our grandkids hopefully some of us will see our great grandkids We're not gonna reap it, nor sow it, nor see it, okay? And there's an elegant thing that one of the county judges in another county says, and I can never get it right, but where trees plant and where there's water, the community's taken care of. And I'm big on water. I stay involved with water for a lot of hours. I go to meetings. I was at one for yesterday, three and a half hours trying to figure out where to get some water. But a project that you could do today for future water, the time you have to go through legislation and state requirements and the lawyers, you're looking at a 10 year project. We have to move forward to be able to take care of the future. That's all I have, Mr. Mayor, thank you. Thank you. Anyone else?

All right, you have an item. Mr. Mayor, can I say something? I'm sorry, sure.

I've been in this city since 1995. There's no perfect cities. This body, this community, this city staff does a great job of providing the best service we can provide to this community. To come in here, to attack us and not having all your facts together. You are a part of this community too. So what you say to us and how you present yourself to us, get the facts. The city manager, the mayor invite all of you guys to come talk to you. But you come in here doing what you do, it's not going to defend any of us. We come here to serve you. So sometimes think about what we do up here on this council. It's not an easy job. So if you want to help change some things in collaboration with what we do in the community, join some of these boards and these commissions to see what this city is. It's not easy running a municipality. We have Citizen Leadership Academy, where you as a citizen can come here and learn the ins and the outs of working of this city. But you won't do that. But you'd rather come here. which is toxicity, talk bad about us like we're not doing anything. This council, this body work hard. We have a great city manager. We have a great mayor, leadership. They go out and do great things. But before you come here and do that, I ask you to not do that. Because what you say and do and people see make them not want to come to Copper's Cove. Copper's Cove is a great city. We try to do everything we can for this community. But when you come here like that, it don't affect us. We're just trying to do the best thing we can for this community. So if you have a question, this is the right place to come and present your question, but to come here with everything you're doing, going on Facebook, Hot Topic, I don't go on none of them social media pages. And as a city election official, I work hard day in and day out, trying to see how we can make this community. But what you have demonstrated tonight, it shouldn't be. You're a citizen of this community, too. I would not come to a forum like this and demonstrate and illustrate your frustration that you have for this city. When it's a service, there's a fee. Everyone in this city work hard to try to make it the best city. We have a great city, but if you tear it down and make these toxicity thing, nobody's wanna go come here. So if you have a question, like the city manager said, come talk to him. The mayor said, come talk to him. That's transparency in this city. I'm very disappointed as a resident and a citizen of Coppice Cove. It hurts. When you sit back and don't come and ask the right question, all the answers are in here. You don't have to go there for it, get them. But you get on those social media pages, you're a representative of the city too. So when you talk about this body, you're talking about yourself too. So please don't do it. That's all I got, Mr. Mayor.

Are you sure?

I could go on home. Yeah, I know you could. Thank you. Anybody else?

All right. Is there action to be taken on item H6?

Mr. Mayor? Yes. I would like to propose a few changes to the budget, as I reiterated back in August the 4th, in regards to some items.

Do you have some specific things that you want?

Yes, sir.

So we would need to... if you wanna make those changes and there's a consensus, then we would need to recess to make those calculations. Correct. Okay. Mayor, yes.

Yeah, with the adoption of the budget, if City Council wants to recommend changes to the proposed budget, correct me if I'm wrong, Mrs. Beckman, we don't need to adjourn for City Council to approve the budget, but it is specific to the tax rate because the motion includes calculations. Is that accurate?

Well, even with the budget, don't you all want to know if those changes are made, what those changes look like and what the deficit will look like in the general fund specifically, right? Yes.

Yes.

I would think yes. You would have to.

Yes.

My comment is just for the following. The next item is actually adopting the tax rate, but there could be an option of changing that. So if that was to happen, whatever we're doing now is going to change. So should we flip the items and do seven first?

You can't do that legally. No.

OK. State law actually requires the governing body to approve the budget before you approve a tax rate.

Thank you for the clarification.

Ms. Hogan, you've got the floor.

Thank you very much. Thank you for your patience. I proposed some of these changes back on August 4th. I just want to make sure that this governing body has the opportunity to approve them or disapprove them. When it comes to public safety on the market adjustments, I propose that they get a 3.5% COLA raise instead of the increase that we are offering them. The COLA raises for the rest of the staff, I'm asking that we not do a COLA raise this year because we had large market adjustments last year. And when it comes to the development services manager and all of the things that entail with him, I think it's like $110,000 that we strike that and take that off for the budget for next year. And the personnel reclassifications of $89,000 $830 I'd like to postpone as well.

Mr. Mayor, are these the same changes that you proposed in August, I mean exactly?

No, not exactly.

What is different between August and now?

In August I proposed that the market adjustments be 50%, just cut them in half, but I cut out all of the other items that we had and proposed a 3.5% raise instead of the original market adjustment rate. That is the one change.

I think there's, I want to say there might be some questions about exactly what we're talking about. Do we have, do you have all those changes?

So as far as the numbers for COLA for the rest of the city employees, we do have that number. We have the number for the reclassification. It's the 3% COLA for public safety that we would have to recalculate, and I can't do that right here.

What about the other? Do you have the other items?

Yeah, she had the other two items. Yes. She just can't calculate what the COLA raise would be for public safety versus the market adjustment.

Well, I have the amount that you want it taken out. We have that amount. But the 3% COLA for public safety, I would have to recalculate that based on the numbers. And I can't do that here.

OK. Before we go through all that, is there a consensus to make these changes at this point in time?

Mr. Mayor?

Yes.

I know there's a lot of issues that we do need to fix, especially with development and the city growing and all that. And I know if we don't approve this position, it's going to hurt. I'd be willing to support that. And I'll just take the beating on that one personally. But the other ones, I would still like to see public safety and the citizens paid to be taken care of, sir.

Okay, we're moving all over the map, go ahead.

I'm sorry, so Mr. Treadway, you stated that the development services manager position to not fund and fill that position. Correct. Okay, thank you.

Okay. I was going down the road as far as consensus, no. Did you say no, Howard? By the development service? No, no, for the changes as Rita. That I proposed.

Okay. Did what? No.

No, no, for what she said.

I'm okay with eliminating the development services manager, but I'm afraid I have to go with the market adjustments for public safety. Even though I love Rita.

So at this point, if I'm understanding everything, the only change that would be made to the budget would be the elimination of the development services manager at this point in time. So that would not affect, I mean, that would have an effect, but it wouldn't change the tax rate at this point in time.

No. OK. And I have that amount here.

I'm sorry? Did you say something?

I'm looking up the amount for that position right here. So $120,000. OK. All right.

All right, so this is going to require a record vote, a motion and a record vote.

Is there a motion to be made with the change recommended?

Mr. Mayor, I recommend that we approve ordinance 2026-28, approving and adopting the budget and plan municipality service of the city of Copper Scope, Texas for the fiscal year 2026-2027 with the change of removing the development manager position.

OK. Is there a second?

I'll second.

OK. Motion to second. Any other discussion?

Mr. Mayor, I realize I'm out of order.

I just need to go ahead.

One quick question, please, sir. Sir. You can sit down or leave.

OK. And two different opportunities.

DAVID BURRAGE. Yeah, but you didn't serve. DAVID BURRAGE. Sir. DAVID BURRAGE. Sir, we're done.

DAVID BURRAGE. OK. All right. Motion made and a second. Was there any other discussion? All right. This is a record vote. So Madam Secretary, please call the roll.

CHRISTIE WOODLE. Kristina Strophis. CHRISTIE WOODLE. Aye. CHRISTIE WOODLE. Rita Hogan. NAY. CHRISTIE WOODLE. Howard Hawk. Aye. CHRISTIE WOODLE. John Hale. Aye.

CHRISTIE WOODLE.

Dale Treadway.

Aye.

Vanya Hart? Nay. Jack Smith?

Aye.

Four to two.

No, seven. Five to two.

Oh, sorry, five to two.

Okay. All right, motion carries. All right, we move to item H7.

Consideration in action on ordinance number 2026-29, adopting the proposed property ad valorem tax rate for fiscal year 2026-2027, Arianna Beckman, Director of Budget.

Mayor and council, this item is to adopt the city's property tax rate for fiscal year 26-27. The proposed rate is 69.9 cents per $100 of taxable value. This is approximately 1.26 cents higher than the current rate and 2.97% above the no new revenue tax rate. It does remain below the voter approval rate. Of the total rate, approximately 46 cents will support the city's maintenance and operation and approximately 23.9 cents will be used to repay bonded debt. The proposed rate is expected to generate approximately $11 million for the general fund and 5.7 million for the debt service fund. These revenues are included in the budget that the council just adopted. The required public hearing was held earlier tonight and all required notices were published. Approval requires 60% majority and a record roll call vote. State law also requires that the motion be made using specific language that is in the agenda.

Mayor. Yes.

I spoke with a council member earlier today who asked me about the specific motion that's in the agenda item, specifically regarding the calculations that are included in there, some of the verbiage that's included in there. And so I just wanted to walk council through this. As Mrs. Begman said, this motion complies with state law. State law actually provides a specific motion that city council has to make in order to adopt a property tax rate. So if you're all looking at and reviewing that motion, I'll just kind of walk you through that real quick. It does say that a motion is made to that the property tax rate be increased by the adoption of a tax rate of 69.6 cents, which is effectively a 2.97% increase in the tax rate of the calculated no new revenue tax rate. So that portion right there, the 2.97%, that's percentage, is the amount of increase above the no new revenue tax rate, which is a calculated rate that only appeared and existed during this budget process that the state requires to be calculated. The next statement says, and a 1.26 cent of the current tax rate. So now we've changed to a different type of calculation. Now this is a dollar amount. It's not a percentage anymore. It's 1.26 cents. And it's based, compared to the current tax rate. not the no new revenue tax rate. It goes on and it states that there's a certain portion, 46 and some change cents for maintenance and operations, and then 23.8982 cents for interest and sinking. The next statement states, or two sentences after that says, the tax rate will effectively be raised by 4.58%. And so that 4.58%, again, goes back to the comparison to the no new revenue tax rate, not the current tax rate, and it states that we'll raise taxes for maintenance and operations on a $100,000 home by approximately $20.14. And so now we have a comparison that's a different amount. So this is a $100,000 comparison. Whereas if you look at the taxpayer impact statement, that comparison is based on the average homestead value of the property. So state law now requires us to use a different amount than what was even published in the notice. And it compares that amount to the no new revenue tax rate. Then the last sentence is that the tax rate for interest in sinking will increase by 2.85% and will raise taxes for interest in sinking on a $100,000 home by $6.61. There is not a calculation of a no new revenue tax rate for interest in sinking. There's not a calculation for that. Because state law says whatever you calculate for interest in sinking or the repayment of debt, that's what the rate is, period. Because that's the priority that the state legislature put on cities, and rightfully so, you gotta pay your debt. period. And so that comparison is based on the comparison to the current interest in sinking tax rate, not a no new revenue calculation. So I apologize that all these numbers and calculations, as I was told earlier and I was listening to a Senate Finance Committee hearing that occurred today on property taxes, the math doesn't math sometimes. until you start getting into the actual state law, the requirements, and following which numbers you're supposed to use for which calculations. Thank you, Mayor.

OK. All right.

Council, any questions?

So this requires a record vote, and the motion Has to be read and exactly as written.

Mr. Mayor, I did have something to say. I have, like I said before from the dais, you know, there has been increases for our residents from last year to this year, twice this year. And I've also voiced that this is really a time where I just feel that we just need to have our residents just have a moment of just breathing for a second, just hold on for a second. When I did some calculations, I'm proposing that we amend the current. I propose that we take the proposed tax rate of 0.6999 and amend it back to .6864, the current tax rate. And then what we can do is the difference that I calculated, I'm comfortable with that for fund balance. And there could be future plannings in regards to budget planning, also a plan of how to bring back the monies back. So there can be further conversation. I voiced it before that I wanted to stay at the current tax rate with a possibility the highest I would go is 0.69. But after seeing the difference between both tax rates by going into fund balance, I'm comfortable with that amount. So that's my proposal of amending what we are proposing for the tax rate and bringing it back to the current. Thank you.

Mayor.

Yes.

Ms. Hart, thank you for sharing that. City Council, if you consider a different tax rate than what was proposed, I would recommend that you provide a consensus of what that tax rate will be considered for actually adopting. Once you reach a consensus on that tax rate, I am requesting that you recess the meeting because as I just went through the calculations in the motion, those calculations have to be recalculated. Those numbers have to be prepared again specific to whatever consensus of a tax rate that you are proposing to adopt.

All right, council, is there? Mr. Mayor?

Yes. How much would that affect our fund balance? I mean, what's the total number we're talking about if we went back to the current tax rate of 68.8? It's hard to think you have that calculated, don't you?

Yes, I do. Well, I have an estimate. I think, Brian, do you have a mark? I have like a little bit over 280,000.

Okay.

If I may? Yes. Okay, so based on leaving the interest and sinking rate, because that does not change, so the only portion of the tax rate that would change is maintenance and operation, which is for the general fund. So if you change the tax rate to 686419, correct? The impact to the general fund is $408,000.

Mrs. Beckman, can you provide the difference between that number and what the proposed tax rate impact is?

Thank you.

That's an additional $282,000 to the deficit. And what would the total deficit be at that point? It would be right here, $1179,000. without keeping in mind the position you just took out of the budget. 119,000.

And city council's direction to include the improvements to city hall on the exterior of that building of $600,000.

All right, so is there consensus to Change the tax rate.

I support.

Support.

Support.

All right. So we need to recess for a few minutes?

Yes, sir.

OK. All right. Time is 812. We'll recess for a minute. 10 minutes? Is that going to be enough? It may take longer than that.

OK. Hope so. Can we go into executive session while they do that and get that part out of the way?

OK. Yeah, we can do that. OK. Let's. I mean, just a thought. Let me back up. All right. So while that's being calculated, we're going to go back. We're going to go to item K, executive session. There are three items.

K1, pursuant to section 551-072 of the Texas government code, city council will meet in executive session to deliberate the purchase, exchange, lease, or value of real property related to Patriot Circle. K2, pursuant to Section 551-072 of the Texas Government Code, City Council will meet an executive session to deliberate the purchase, exchange, lease, or value of real property related to Narrows Business and Technology Park. K-3, pursuant to section 551-087 of the Texas government code, city council will meet an executive session for deliberation regarding the offer of a financial or other incentive to a business prospect reference as project chopper.

DAVID BURRAGE. All right. The time is 8-14. We adjourn into executive session.

Hold up.

Thank you. Excuse me.

We reconvene into open session for possible action resulted from any items posted and legally discussed in executive session. There is no action to be taken. So we had a recess. We're going back to item H7. Right, I need a comment.

Yeah, Mayor, thank you. Appreciate y'all taking a recess so we could work on those calculations. Mrs. Begman has prepared the motion. We've got that printed. We've provided each of you with that motion in front of you. It is based on a consensus of a tax rate of 68.6419. It changes a number of the calculations. including very specifically the portion that is for maintenance and operations. The ordinance has also been revised based on the consensus of this tax rate, which also includes the same calculations that are actually in your motion. So with that being said, Mrs. Beckman, was there anything else that you needed to share?

No, I just want to note that some of these changes will also affect the next item, but whenever we get to it, we'll talk about it. Also, I'll have the motion up on the screen whenever you all are ready.

Thank you, Mrs. Beckman. Lastly, Mayor, City Council, with the fact that you're considering a tax rate that is different from the tax rate that was in the budget that you just adopted, and because of the way state law is specifically written and you've actually taken action to adopt the budget, one of the very first actions that you will have to take on the adopted budget once it becomes effective is a budget amendment which reduces and takes out the amount of revenue based on the tax rate that was proposed.

All right. Council, is there action to be taken on item H7? Mr. Mayor.

Mr. Smith. I move that the property tax rate be increased by the adoption of a tax rate of 68.6419 cents per $100 taxable assessed valuation, which is effectively a 1.11% increase in the tax rate of the calculated no new revenue tax rate and no increase from the current tax rate and approve ordinance number 2026-29 adopting and setting the 2026 tax rate of 68.6419 cents per $100 taxable assessed valuation of which 44.7437 cents is for maintenance and operations and 23.8982 cents is for interest and sinking funds for the repayment of bonded debt. This tax rate will raise more taxes for maintenance and operations than last year's tax rate. The tax rate will effectively be raised by 1.72% and will raise taxes for maintenance and operations on $100,000 home by approximately $7.56. The tax rate for interest in seeking will be increased by 2.85% and will raise taxes for interest and sinking on 100,000 homes by $6.61. DAVID BURRAGE.

Motion made by Mr. Smith, seconded by Ms. Hogan. Any other discussion? All right. This is a record vote and requires a 60% majority vote. OK, Ms. Grofus?

Aye. Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

All right, vote is 7-0. Motion carries. All right, now we move to item H8.

Consideration in action on resolution number 2026-25, ratifying the vote to approve and adopt the budget for fiscal year 2026-2027, and the vote to adopt the property tax rate for fiscal year 2026-2027. to 2027, Arianna Beckman, Director of Budget.

OK. Mayor and council, this is the final item related to fiscal year 26-27 budget and tax rate. State law requires council to take a separate vote to ratify the increase in property tax revenue included in the budget. This vote is required in addition to the votes council just took to adopt a budget and tax rate. The amounts that have been included in the agenda have changed since you just adopted a tax rate that was different from what it was proposed. So when comparing the just adopted tax rate to current year's budget, For the general fund portion, there's a decrease of $30,454. And from interest and sinking, it's an increase of $225,000 in total, an increase of $194,344. Staff recommends approval of the attached ordinance, ratifying the votes to adopt the fiscal year 26-27 budget and property tax rate.

All right. Council, any questions for Ms. Beckman? Or is there a motion to be made on this item?

Mr. Mayor? Yes. I make a motion that we approve item HH number 2026-25, ratifying the vote to approve and adopt a budget for fiscal year 2026-2027, and the vote to adopt the property tax rate for fiscal year 2026-2027, Arianna Beckman, Director of Budget.

Second.

OK. Motion made by Mr. Hugg, seconded by Ms. Hart. Discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? The motion carries. That takes care of all of the action items for this evening. We move to item J, items for future agendas.

Nothing for me, Mr. Mayor. None for me, sir.

None, Mr. Mayor.

None at this time, sir. Nothing, Mr. Mayor.

Requesting an excused absence for August 18. Support. OK. Thank you.

OK. Oh, I have nothing. OK.

All right. We've already gone through executive session, so the time is 8.45, and we stand adjourned.