Published: August 26, 2008 09:48 am      

Bond, tax rate discussed

Chelsea L. McGowan

cmcgowan@weatherforddemocrat.com

As discussed in previous meetings, the Commissioner’s Court of Parker County ordered an election for Nov. 4, 2008. The ballot is slated to include an $80 million transportation bond issue, as well as the legalization of alcohol sales in the City of Weatherford.

“There oughta be a big turnout Nov. 4, for a lot of reasons,” County Judge Mark Riley said. “We’ve got a lot going on.”

In anticipation of the bond issue being accepted by voters, the court passed a resolution allowing work to begin immediately on the proposed transportation projects.

This resolution provides for the county to reimburse itself for expenditures on transportation projects from the proceeds of the tax-exempt bond.

The court also heard a presentation from Precinct 3 Commissioner John Roth regarding his research on the effective tax rate.

Roth’s presentation included evidence that the effective tax rate worksheet is to blame for the county receiving little or no tax revenue from new gas wells being drilled in the area.

“I, obviously, would love it if we could encourage the legislature to change this,” Roth said. “But my main goal is that the public knows that the county government isn’t lining its coffers with revenue from these gas wells. There’s a lot of misinformation out there.”

After hearing the presentation the court adopted an official resolution supporting Roth’s findings.

Public hearings regarding the proposed tax rate were scheduled for 9 a.m. Sept. 5 and Sept. 11.

The court is proposing a tax rate of .3545 cents per $100 of valuation, which Riley said would be a total increase of about $80 a year on the average homestead.

“It sounds like we’re raising taxes by some huge amount,” said Riley of the 8 percent increase. “But it really just adds up to about a cent and half across all three funds.”

Riley went on to say the tax increase, which covers the general fund, the road and bridge fund and debt service, will have a significant impact on the county’s revenue.

“Projected revenue from the general fund is gonna be a couple million dollars,” he said. “It’s a significant amount.”