City officials said they were prepared to begin the process of verifying the names and voter registration statuses of those who had signed the petition last week, but when a member of the local Concerned Citizens Council submitted the document Friday, Dec. 18, they were in for a surprise.

The petition, which was expected to contain approximately 1,200 signatures from local voters, contained only one signature, that of Concerned Citizens Council Chairman Shannon Thomason.

Thomason said the document submitted was a “token” the council arrived at after it became apparent the group had fallen short of the 1,200 signatures needed to force a special rollback tax election.

“We began the verification process shortly after I spoke to the Herald (on Dec. 16). At that time we believed we had enough signatures, but when we began the process we came up short,” said Thomason. “So, instead of putting the city through the process of having to try to verify the signatures we had, we decided to submit a token petition.”

The city council adopted the ad valorem tax rate of $1.013243 per $100 property value in September, 6.246 cents above the effective rate — the rate that would bring in the same revenue as last year — of 95.0783 cents and 3.3 cents above the roll back rate of 97.9398 cents. The roll back rate produces an 8 percent increase in revenue over the effective rate.

According to city officials, the adopted rate for the 2009-10 fiscal year is the same as the 2008-2009 fiscal year. Residents will not see an increase in the property taxes unless the appraised value of their property increased, according to City Finance Director Peggy Walker.

At the heart of the issue for the Concerned Citizens Council is a proposal to replace the city pool, which was closed earlier this year because it didn't conform to federal standards. The revenue garnered from the adopted tax rate will bring an estimated $331,400 above the effective rate. The bulk of that money — $243,579 — would be ear-marked for the pool project.

Had the rollback petition been successful, the tax rate would have fallen back to 97.9398 cents per $100 property value — the roll back rate set by the state of Texas. The rollback would have left the city's current budget with a shortfall of about $180,000, according to officials.

The city council has discussed a number of different remedies for its swimming pool problems, ranging from the renovation of the existing pool to the design and construction of a water park. However, the council has not yet made a definitive decision on the matter.

Although the petition has failed, Thomason said he and other Concerned Citizens Council members still feel strongly about the pool issue.

“We still believe an expenditure of that magnitude should go before the voters,” said Thomason.

Contact Staff Writer Thomas Jenkins at 263-7331 ext. 232 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it