News
MPR City Council focus on budget
Monday, 24 September 2012 by Jenna Magness
Morgan's Point city council members opened up their meeting with a prayer and moment of silence for the victims and families of September 11th.
The main business of the meeting was to focus on the city budget and the city tax levy and to address any concerns from citizens.
Morgan Point's tax levy is $0.6421 and is actually lower than the effective rate. Most cities around the area have had to increase their taxes.
"The city council was very adamant about not raising taxes on citizens," said City Manager David Huseman. "The primary goal of the budget was to accomplish just that. We want to provide essential services that citizens need without raising taxes."
Some concerns were addressed about the city budget. Budget item 6166, Travel for any Purpose, is a newly added entry in the budget that city members felt was not needed.
However, Huseman explained that the item is intended to be used for "travel training." There are many new council members and they will be travelling to classes and seminars to get a better understanding for the city budget. Elected officials also attend conferences to get the best information for the community. These conferences are put on by professional organizations.
Another concern stemmed from the city's debt and whether there was a "rainy day fund" put aside. "We have retained earnings on the marina after it got torn up because of the tornado. We call that our Rainy Day Fund. There is a strong balance in the budget and the fund balance is growing. The debt concerns everybody but our financial advisors are taking care of it, we're in solid shape," Mayor Jared Bryan said.
The council amended the City Code of Ordinances Section 14, Zoning. The ordinance increases how many buildings can be built on someone's property. Property owners can build accessory buildings on their land. This expansion of the ordinance gives the community more flexibility.
Many people were concerned about the recent resolution passed for the new trails in Morgan's Point. Huseman encourages everyone to go to www.morganspointresorttx.com for detailed answers to questions concerning the trails.
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