City sets tax rate, budget for fiscal year
September’s Wills Point City Council meeting leaned heavily on the bookkeeping side of operating a city, with council members approving both a budget and tax rate for the 2015-’16 fiscal year, and tackling a series of ordinances that will get the city one step closer to the construction of a new, city owned EMS station.
Business opened with a series of public recognitions, including several new city hires. Council members began by welcoming back John Turner as the city’s interim police chief.
In a statement made last week, Mayor Mark Turner (who was out of town during Tuesday night’s meeting) stated, “John served as our prior interim chief as well and I am so pleased that he has agreed to step up and do it once again. John knows our city and is respected as a leader and will hit the ground running. His service will provide city leaders with a much needed cushion of time to begin the selection of the next chief. We are truly grateful to John for his service.”
Following several other items of business, Mayor Pro Tem Mike Jones read a proclamation designating Sept. 16 as Chamber Day in the city of Wills Point.
Chamber president Jennifer Ross explained, “We (the chamber) want our businesses to know that they are important to us, no matter how big or small or whether they’re a chamber member or not. So next Wednesday (Sept. 16), we have divided Wills Point into quadrants and we’ve split up into teams to go visiting every business and touch every business and take their temperature of what their business is in Wills Point, what they think about Wills Point as far as what we can do better, what we already do great and what they don’t want to see us do anymore.”
Tax rate, budget
Business shifted to the action item portion of the agenda, with council members adopting a budget and setting a tax rate for 2015-’16.
In regards to the budget, City Administrator Pam Pearson said, “I believe that we’ve created some plans that will help Wills Point to move forward. We’ve kept streets in mind. We’ve focused on the water treatment plant and on the employees as well.” Council members unanimously approved the budget as presented.
Council members were also unanimous in their support for the city’s tax rate for the 2015-’16 fiscal year, which was set at $.70 per $100 valuation. The adopted tax rate matches the city’s tax rate from the previous fiscal year.
