How Ad Valorem Taxes Work

Ad Valorem taxes are what people commonly know as property taxes. Property taxes in Corinth represent about half of the City's total revenues in any given fiscal year. You can see that knowing how ad valorem taxes work is important.

The actual tax levied on any single property is based on the appraised value of that property and the tax rate. If the tax rate stays the same from one year to the next, the actual tax levied goes up only if the property value goes up. Likewise if the property value goes down, the actual tax levied also goes down.

Garbage and Recycling service in Corinth

The City of Corinth provides garbage and recyclables collection services for its residents. The City currently contracts for this service with Waste Management, a company that provides waste collection services to many communities in Texas. The current contract with Waste Management expires at the end 2012. The City has contracted with Waste Management since about 1996 for this service.

Several months ago, the City issued a request for proposals to provide solid waste and recyclables collection for the City of Corinth. As of the deadline for submittal of the proposals, the City received three proposals. The staff is currently evaluating the proposals, and preparing them for presentation to the Council. With only two regular sessions and one workshop left for the year, it seems very likely that the proposals will be agenda items very soon. The remaining regular sessions are on December 6 and 20, 2012, and the workshop date is December 13, 2012. Unless there is a special called session, the latest date to select and approve a proposal is December 20, 2012.

To date, I have not received any significant complaints about the garbage collection service provided by Waste Management. In general, they seem to be doing a good job. Of course in the last 16 years much has changed with waste collection and disposal, the most obvious of which is the increased emphasis on recycling. It is important to evaluate the service we will request for the next 10 to 15 years based on possible and probable changes in the future as well as on the service we have received in the past. Certainly, the cost of the service is also very important.

Some items specifically mentioned in the request for proposals included larger recycle bins, large and bulky item removal, emergency cleanup (after major storms for example), and hazardous materials collection.

If you have concerns, questions, or suggestions about garbage collection for the future in Corinth or comments about the current garbage collection process, please let me know by commenting here, or contacting me directly at bhanson@cityofcorinth.com.

Final Lake Cities Proposed Contract

The City Manager brought the terms for the final proposal for the Lake Cities Fire Services Contract to the council July 31, 2012. These are the terms that the City Councils for Lake Dallas and Hickory Creek expressed agreement to in votes the prior week. At this point, the cities of Lake Dallas and Hickory Creek have not signed the Fire Services Contract, although their vote would seem to be an indication that they are willing to do so on these terms.

So what are the terms that have been negotiated? The changes from the original proposal the City of Corinth sent the other towns are primarily revolving around the costs each city is willing to pay. There were also some other minor changes.

AV Property values

Property valuations are very slightly up compared to last year's certified property valuation for the City of Corinth. The certified property valuation reports were published at the end of July. The total property valuation for the city is used to determine the property tax rate necessary for the next fiscal year budget (starts in October 2012).

State law ties the effective tax rate to the comparison of this year's net property valuation in the city with the certified appraised value from last year. Essentially the effective rate is defined to set a rate that would generate the same property taxes overall for the city on existing properties as last year's actual property tax rate generated on last year's certified appraisal value. Of course the law is not actually that simple - it is a convoluted and tortuous path from the two appraisal values to the effective rate for this upcoming year.

June 7 2012 council session.

There were five items on the regular agenda for the corinth city council last night. The resolution denying Atmos Energy their rate request was approved. Atmos energy supported the resolution as they were making progress with the rate regions member cities negotiating a reduced rate increase.

We still need to conserve water this summer

Stage 2 of the City of Corinth drought contingency plan has ended: City of Corinth water utility customers are no longer under a mandatory requirement to water no more than twice a week on specific days. At the May 17, 2012 council session City Manager Jim Berzina announced that the City would moving off of stage 2 water restrictions citing, among other reasons, that the City of Dallas had made changes in their water conservation plans, and that the reservoirs are currently at normal, or 'full', level.

Has Election Fatigue Set In Yet?

It is sure to - the Texas Primary election early voting started yesterday (May 14). This is the primary for the Republican and Democratic parties. Primary Election Day is May 29. There are many candidates for many positions, including Texas house district 64. Go to Denton County elections for a list of times and locations for early voting. Voting on election day is done at the assigned location for your precinct. Precincts have changed for this cycle - check your voter's registration card. I received my card last Saturday; most people should have received their cards by now.

Get out and Vote! make sure your voice is heard!

Setting The Record Straight

Joe Harrison is running for reelection to the Corinth City Council, place 4 during municipal elections 2012. Sim Portnoy is challenging him again (he ran against Joe and lost in 2010). Recently Sim Portnoy impugned Joe Harrison's voting record and, by association, my voting record, in a desperate attempt to distract voters from his vacuous and outrageous statements. Now, he's directly attacking my voting record, and that is not going to work.

Be sure to get out and Vote

Early voting for local elections began on April 30, 2012. Early voting for the City of Corinth continues today (May 5) through 5 PM, and resumes Monday May 7 and goes through Tuesday May 8th. Voting Monday and Tuesday will be conducted from 7 AM to 7 PM. Election Day is May 12, 2012, with the polls open from 7 AM until 7 PM.

How WILL they fund the I 35 E widening project?

That is the big question these days. Just how will they fund it? where will the money come from? Tolls and toll roads. Especially toll lanes on the reconstructed I35E. A public-private partnership: a private operator builds the highway/tollway, and then gets to keep the revenues from the tolls in exchange. At least that is the way it was sold. The state kicks in some money, the county (Denton county that is) puts in funding, and the private firm pays the rest, and gets to operate the toll lanes included in the reconstructed highway. So, you've got your eye on the ball under the cup right?

Will there be another HB 3105?

You may recall a prior post about this - HB 3105 - big gas interests' way to crush cities The question now is, are they going to try again? Well, you can be pretty sure legislation similar to this will be introduced again. Several cities in the North Texas region, including Corinth, had updated and improved their ordinances regulating drilling in those cities. Corinth's regulations included emissions, noise, and road usage controls. While you can never really make a gas well (or oil well for that matter) a great neighbor, the impact can be lessened.

So, the oil and gas industry lobby will try to quash these rules. Why? Because almost any regulation imposed on a business causes costs to go up. Therefore, any regulated business is going to lobby legislators to reduce or remove the regulation. While some people are aghast at this process, it is a valid process. 

We the residents whose homes and lives are affected are an interest group also. We are, after all, the voters. So while the oil and gas industry will be lobbying to curtail the power of local governments to regulate well sites and their placement in a city, WE should also be lobbying to keep our local governments empowered. Keep in mind it does not stop with your particular state representative or state senator - there are 150 representatives and 34 senators. 

The large size of the house, and to a lesser extent, the senate, is a major reason to allow city governing councils the greatest latitude in planning for and protecting their cities. Consider this: if a local group of people desire to change how government is working at home, it is far easier to communicate with your council at home, than legislators far away at the capitol. One size does NOT fit all!

It will be important during this next legislative session to watch out for another bill like this one. The Texas Municipal League watches for bills that erode City's and Town's authority. You can help too! When something like this comes up, contact your state representative or senator, and let them know what you want. You are a voter!

Railroad Commission not going anywhere

You might recall an earlier post I made, about the Texas Legislature on track to abolish the Railroad Commission.... Unfortunately, SB 655 never made it to the Governor's desk. The Senate had passed the bill, and it was reported to the House. They made amendments to it and passed it with the amendments which the Senate did not agree to. So a conference committee was appointed. And that is just as far as they got. The session ended before anything was conferred on.

The Lake Cities Fire Department

Many of your may already know that the City of Corinth operates the Lake Cities Fire Department. It provides Fire and Emergency Medical services to all four of the 'Lake Cities': Corinth, Hickory Creek, Lake Dallas, and Shady Shores. All four of the Cities provide funding for the Fire Department through interlocal agreements (or contracts).