There’s a City Council Meeting tonight… And It’s a BIG One…

At tonight’s 6pm Dilley City Council meeting, some of the most pressing issues facing the city will be discussed, all related to water rates and the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality (TCEQ) violations. Notice of the meeting was posted on Friday at 5pm.  Continue reading “There’s a City Council Meeting tonight… And It’s a BIG One…”

Dilley Voted to Adopt This Year’s Property Tax Rate. Has CoreCivic Been Paying Their Fair Share?… Part 2 of 3

On Monday October 10th, Dilley voted to adopt a property tax rate of $.802301 per $100 on approximately $158 million dollars of appraised property tax value. For the past year, however, city attorney Bobby Maldonado has argued that the total appraised value should be far higher due to an alleged $60 million dollar under-valuation of CoreCivic’s South Texas Family Residential Center. Continue reading “Dilley Voted to Adopt This Year’s Property Tax Rate. Has CoreCivic Been Paying Their Fair Share?… Part 2 of 3”

Dilley Voted to Adopt This Year’s Property Tax Rate. Has CoreCivic Been Paying Their Fair Share?… Part 1 of 3

On Monday October 10th, Dilley voted to adopt a property tax rate of $.802301 per $100 on approximately $158 million dollars of appraised property tax value. For the past year, however, city attorney Bobby Maldonado has argued that the total appraised value should be far higher due to an alleged $60 million dollar under-valuation of CoreCivic’s South Texas Family Residential Center.

A story in three council meetings… Continue reading “Dilley Voted to Adopt This Year’s Property Tax Rate. Has CoreCivic Been Paying Their Fair Share?… Part 1 of 3”

Disputes over Input, Transparency Stall Budget & Tax Vote

CITY COUNCIL TABLES THE BUDGET & TAX RATE VOTES

Disputes over transparency, lack of council input.

By the time the September 26th Dilley city meeting had started, the council was aware of extra revenue that was not included in the budget they were about to vote on- more than $84,000 in projected revenue, and $60,000 in eliminated expenses. If it had been included, the council would potentially have two new options: either keep the tax rate the same instead of raising it, or allocate those funds to departments and projects. City Manager Rudy Alvarez, who was hired well after the budget process began, suggested that it was too late to make wholesale changes, but made an offer to the council. Continue reading “Disputes over Input, Transparency Stall Budget & Tax Vote”

BUDGET SEASON: City Manager Rudy Alvarez Finds $60,000 at County Meeting

Budget Season: City Manager Rudy Alvarez Finds $60,000 at County Meeting

City of Pearsall asks for forgiveness from upcoming interlocal agreement payment, City of Dilley asks for equal treatment.

The Frio County Commissioners court was packed with more people than usual. The commissioners were set to approve their new fiscal year budget. Citizens and department heads waited to make their cases for or against pending budget cuts. Continue reading “BUDGET SEASON: City Manager Rudy Alvarez Finds $60,000 at County Meeting”

BUDGET SEASON: How plummeting Hotel revenues could impact Dilley’s property tax rates… and what the City plans to do about it.

BUDGET SEASON: How plummeting Hotel revenues could impact Dilley’s property tax rates… and what the City plans to do about it. 

At the July 10th budget workshop, finance director Irma Rodriguez caught the council by surprise with with unexpectedly low hotel occupancy tax revenue figures. Continue reading “BUDGET SEASON: How plummeting Hotel revenues could impact Dilley’s property tax rates… and what the City plans to do about it.”

BUDGET SEASON: A Deep Dive into Dilley’s 2017-18 Budget Proposal

BUDGET SEASON: A Deep Dive into Dilley’s 2017-18 Budget Proposal

Next week, the Dilley city council will vote on whether or not raise the local property tax rate to $0.885281, a 10% increase from the current $0.802301 property tax rate.

The tax decision will rest largely on the demands of the proposed budget released by the city last month (available here). For the sake of comparison and scrutiny, this article uses the new total 2017 taxable value for the city of Dilley and calculates projections based on the current 2016 property tax and collection rate… Continue reading “BUDGET SEASON: A Deep Dive into Dilley’s 2017-18 Budget Proposal”