At issue is a proposed 17.77 cent per hundred-dollar valuation ad valorem tax and a proposed $945,570 budget.
Organizers Danny V. McCort (chairman), Raymond Carver, R. Michael Harwell and Gerald Reihsen began the petition drive Aug. 13 and to date have collected more than 400 signatures, McCort said.
McCort said the drive for signatures would end Wednesday and he will take the petitions to Salado Mayor Merle Stalcup.
The petition states that the 17.77-cent ad valorem tax does not reflect the consensus of Salado’s citizens; the amount has been set at 25 cents, 7 cents, 20 cents and finally 17.77 cents without justification; and the board of aldermen is determined to levy the maximum tax that the law allows with little professional input and without an analysis for setting a priority of needs of projects.
Members of the board told citizens at a public hearing Thursday that when the citizens committee recommended a 7-cent tax the cost of some expenses in the budget were still unknown and the cost of road repair and maintenance was much higher than expected.
Stalcup said he would gladly accept the petitions from the group but that he could not comply with either request - for a tax referendum or for a meeting with residents in an informal atmosphere. State law precludes doing either one, he said.
Cristina Ruiz Blanton, an attorney with Bovey Bojorquez LLP, the law firm that represents the village, said the petition has no legal status.
“But it has value as a political statement - a written expression of the will of a segment of the citizenry,” Ms. Blanton said. “Sound public policy dictates that such a petition be given respect and due consideration, even if only as a sampling of public opinion.”
But a petition not expressly grounded in law is unenforceable, she said. Therefore, submission of a petition to the village does not trigger any legal duty for the village to act. Even if the board of aldermen wanted to submit the issue to the voters it would lack the legal authority to call such an election.
Stalcup said the state open meeting laws prohibit the board from meeting informally with citizens to discuss village business.
“That’s the purpose of the public hearings,” Stalcup said.
Nonetheless, organizers are tirelessly walking the streets picking up signatures.
Carver said he has walked into businesses in the downtown shopping district and has been greeted cheerily by property owners who want to sign.
“We’ve been waiting for you. Give me that petition,” Carver said they tell him.
Reihsen said he’s had no negative response anywhere he’s taken it.
“Everyone I’ve talked to is against the tax,” he said. “We didn’t have any opposition.”
Reihsen, a retired chief engineer for the Federal Highway Administration in Missouri, said he has been working with Temple’s Public Works director - Bruce Butscher - on a solution for road repairs in the village.
“Road maintenance and repair at $320,000 is the biggest part of the budget,” Reihsen said. “I prepared a report in cooperation with Butscher and we believe we can significantly reduce the expense for roads.”
Harwell said he thinks city officials are surprised they are taking notice of the tax.
“When money only came from sales taxes, that was different because it was money that came from the state,” Harwell said. “Now they want to tax our homes and we are concerned because that is our money.”
Since its incorporation eight years ago, Salado property owners have not paid an ad valorem tax to the village. The bulk of its income comes mainly from sales tax rebates and franchise fees. Salado pays $2.15 (per hundred-dollar valuation) to the county, its school district and a water district.
A second public hearing on the budget and tax is scheduled for Sept. 18.
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