MFs EDC Charter changes???

[Caretaker]

Ok folks so the paper shows that the EDC has voted to make a change to its charter rules so as to allow out of city folks a chance to serve on the EDC..The vote was 4 for to 2 against..

Who thinks this a good idea and who thinks its a bad Idea and Why??

IMO. The only ones serving on that Board should live in the city not just own a buisness here and Not just own property here..

[Webmaster]

Personally, I think it's a good idea. There's more to the "economic development" of Marble Falls than what's just within the incorporated city limits.

[combatpilot]

The proposed change is in the MFEDC By-Laws. The MFEDC By-Laws, with the change, will violate the City of Marble Falls City Charter. It will take a city charter election to change the provision that city board appointments must reside in the City of Marble Falls and be registered voters.
The City Council must approve changes to the MFEDC By-Laws. Does the Marble Falls City Council wish to violate its own city charter? Would a city attorney actually recommend that a council violate its own city charter? Time to find a new city attorney. The Marble Falls City Charter in any court of law will have higher standing than state law which allows such out-of town appointments. That state law provision is discressionary only when it does not violate other municipal laws.

Someone has a hidden agenda to get their friends appointed. I do not want to see anyone on a city appointed board that does not reside in the city and does not vote in the City of Marble Falls.

[countryboy]

The proposed change is in the MFEDC By-Laws. The MFEDC By-Laws, with the change, will violate the City of Marble Falls City Charter. It will take a city charter election to change the provision that city board appointments must reside in the City of Marble Falls and be registered voters.
The City Council must approve changes to the MFEDC By-Laws. Does the Marble Falls City Council wish to violate its own city charter? Would a city attorney actually recommend that a council violate its own city charter? Time to find a new city attorney. The Marble Falls City Charter in any court of law will have higher standing than state law which allows such out-of town appointments. That state law provision is discressionary only when it does not violate other municipal laws.

Someone has a hidden agenda to get their friends appointed. I do not want to see anyone on a city appointed board that does not reside in the city and does not vote in the City of Marble Falls.

Heck I bet they claim 'Ambigous Language' in the city charter just like they did when the issue came up on term limits for the Mayors spot;)... Also they will say that since its a Corporation it is seperate from the city and doesnt have to follow the same city rules.:confused:. Just look at the charter section that says no member can serve on more then one board at a time.Well hate to say it but they are allowing it.And for the same reason because they consider a Corporation different then the other boards or committees.Thats how this may get pushed through.:cool:

I do not think they should allow anyone to serve on that board unless they LIVE and/Or own a buisness in town and vote in city elections. They need a direct tie to this city.. I dont want to see them to make a rule that says.hey if you own property here you can be on the board.Cause if that happened one would only have to buy the cheapest lot in town and say they are property owners. And if they were to say all you had to do was own a buisness then would any size buisness be acceptable.What if you are a licensed party clown.Would anyone want to see Bozo show up for the monthly meeting. Probably not.

[trashlady]

Personally, I think it's a good idea. There's more to the "economic development" of Marble Falls than what's just within the incorporated city limits.


I must agree with Webmaster. The EDC is supported by hotel/motel tax paid by visitors to the Highland Lakes. State law allows this tax to be used ONLY for economic development. It is not a Marble Falls only investment.

Visitors are not only here for the city of Marble Falls, but to attract them to the hotels/motels so they can pay that tax, they will want to have more than Walmart to visit and the EDC encourages businesses and other attractions to locate in Marble Falls.

Not using the talents of those in the surrounding areas would stagnate the creativity of such a board.

[Soccermom]

We lived in New Braunfels for awhile and they allowed people on their EDC that lived outside the city. It worked really well. I am new here but it does seem that Marble Falls is the hub for this area and this would make sense. I think this would be a good move. It would add to the representation of the area.

[combatpilot]

Trash lady and Soccer mom: You are confused.

The MFEDC is 100% supported by a 1/2 cent sales tax applied to sales taxable items sold in Marble Falls retail outlets only. It was approved by a local option election allowed under Texas law. Only registered voters in the City of Marble Falls could vote in the election. The money collected is 100% owned by Marble Falls residents and voters. The elected Marble Falls City Council has the ultimate authority (as representatives of the city's voters) to spend the money. We are fortunate in Marble Falls to be a regional shopping hub. We receive approximately four times more sales tax revenue than the average 6,000 population city. When residents of Horseshoe Bay, Cottonwood Shores, Granite Shoals, Spicewood, Llano, Johnson City, Austin, Dallas, etc. shop in Marble Falls, the sales tax becomes the revenue for the City of Marble Falls, no one else. I thank these visitors and shoppers for helping to pay for our needs in the City of Marble Falls. If the money is not spent properly by our city council, we (the voters of Marble Falls) can remove the elected official or the tax. The same is true for hotel occupancy taxes (different state authorized program) collected from Marble Falls hotel locations. Again the money belongs to Marble Falls. Our elected officials decide how it gets spent. I do not want to see anyone from HSB, Cottonwood Shores, Spicewood, Burnet, etc. telling us in Marble Falls how to spend our money. If you do not reside in Marble Falls and vote in Marble Falls, your opinions are worthless.

[Caretaker]

I noticed in the article that the vote was 4 for and 2 against. Board member Packer was not shown to have voted. Where does He stand on the issue?. It would be good to know since hes a council member as well.Also Council member Hurst voted against it so I would assume she would vote No when it comes up at the august 16th meeting..What would the other council members think about it and how will they vote on it?

Please clarrify this. Are the HOT tax and sales taxes both going into the EDC coffers or is it just the HOT tax going in?

And since the edc wants to make it a TEN mile radius would that include HSB residents or GSs residents or maybe even cottonwood??. Also would they have any true Ties to the MFs communty other then just shopping here or serving on the board??

[mdarling]

Caretaker, I was told by the mayor that the EDC gets l/2 percent of the two percent sales tax for the City of Marble Falls. They also benefit from the HOT tax.

[Caretaker]

One other thing that comes to mind is what happens to the Requirement about not being in arrear for any taxes or Liabilitys due the city?. If they dont live in the city they would,nt have to meet that requirement right?. What happens if they owe taxes to any of the other taxing units. Is that going to be checked?. How about the time they have lived in the area.Hows it going to effect that requirement?

[butchkemper]

The EDC receives 1/2 per cent sales tax money.

The EDC does not receive any of the HOT money.

Couple of things to keep in mind:
The EDC has proposed a change to the EDC Article of Incorporation.
The proposed change is explicitly permitted by the State Law (http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/LG/htm/LG.505.htm) that establishes and governs the EDC - see Section 505.052.
The MF City Council must approve the proposed change.
The proposed change allows the Council to select canadates from a larger pool.
The Council appoints the EDC board members who serve at the Council's will.
The Council approves the EDC projects after public hearings.
The Council approves the EDC budget.

For more information about Economic Development Corporations in Texas, please see this State web site (http://www.texasahead.org/tax_programs/typeab/).

Butch

[countryboy]

I,m glad you posted that. Theres a wealth of info at that site. Especially in what can be done and what cant be done.. My favorite part is Sec 504.351 for Type A corps and Sec 505.352 for type B corps. That the termination of an EDC by petition of 10% of the registered voters.
hmm I wonder how many in this city would like to see the EDC go away and all that money be put back into the citys hand?

[wishwash]

Can someone explain to me, in simple terms, what the Economic Development Corporation actually does for the city, and how much does it cost us in actual dollars.
Not percentage of tax revenue.

[Caretaker]

The EDC receives 1/2 per cent sales tax money.

The EDC does not receive any of the HOT money.


Couple of things to keep in mind:

The EDC has proposed a change to the EDC Article of Incorporation.
The proposed change is explicitly permitted by the State Law (http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/LG/htm/LG.505.htm) that establishes and governs the EDC - see Section 505.052.
The MF City Council must approve the proposed change.
The proposed change allows the Council to select canadates from a larger pool.
The Council appoints the EDC board members who serve at the Council's will.
The Council approves the EDC projects after public hearings.
The Council approves the EDC budget.
For more information about Economic Development Corporations in Texas, please see this State web site (http://www.texasahead.org/tax_programs/typeab/).

Butch

Yep.You are correct. It does say it can be done.But should it be changed?. Changing it sends the message that there are NO talented folks in town or that they just dont care to be part of the EDC.And if thats the case then should it even continue to operate?

[Caretaker]

I,m glad you posted that. Theres a wealth of info at that site. Especially in what can be done and what cant be done.. My favorite part is Sec 504.351 for Type A corps and Sec 505.352 for type B corps. That the termination of an EDC by petition of 10% of the registered voters.
hmm I wonder how many in this city would like to see the EDC go away and all that money be put back into the citys hand?

Yes it does state that.BUT Getting folks to sign the petition is one thing getting them to actually vote is another. The voter turn out for most small citys in Texas including MFs is usually very low..

[combatpilot]

The City of Marble Falls gets approximately $1,600,000 annually from the 1/2 cent sales tax for economic development. The city's finance director can give you a more accurate figure which is placed into the annual budget estimates. Remember, the city also gets a full one cent from sales tax annually for general municipal purposes which would be approximately $3.2 million. The City of Marble Falls is flush with sales tax cash! For a city of just over 6,000 population, Marble Falls gets nearly four times the sales tax receipts compared to other similar sized cities. That is because we are a regional hub with Wal-Mart Super Center, Home Depot, Lowe's, HEB, movies and downtown restaurants, etc. that attract shoppers to Marble Falls from 30 miles away. I would estimate that Marble Falls gets at least 50% of its sales tax collections paid by shoppers from outside Marble Falls. However, 100% of this sales tax revenue belongs to the residents and voters of Marble Falls to be spent for the immediate benefit inside the city (roads, police, fire, parks, etc.). The Marble Falls City Council determines how this money is to be spent.

This brings me to my point and Country Boy has hit the nail on the head. We can take this 1/2 cent sales tax for economic development and (by election) reposition the tax or eliminate the tax. I would prefer repositioning the tax because these taxes get paid by visitors and shoppers from outside the city for my benefit. My first preference would be to reposition the 1/2 cent sales tax (100%) to be used for property tax reduction (in other words, the EDC and Board gets eliminated, the city's revenues remain the same as property taxes are reduced by an equal revenue amount and replaced with the 1/2 cent sales tax revenue. I would estimate property tax rates could be lowered by 5 to 6 cents. That is a significant amount to us over-burdened property tax payers. If that avenue is not available, then reposition the 1/2 cent sales tax revenue into a street and roadway improvement fund. Use 100% of the revenue to implement the city's Capital Improvement Projects list. It takes no additional staff and the city council sets the priority.

Calling the election: While the public can force an election with 10% of the registered voters, any member of the current city council can call for an election to reposition this tax, get four votes and its done. Maybe there are some leaders on this current city council? It will probably take a conservative, community leadership team to push for an election. The leaders of the Marble Falls TEA Party Movement ought to take the lead. A local attorney will need to draft a petition, confirm the ballot language (don't expect any help from the City of Marble Falls City Attorney or the Burnet County District Attorney). There are expenses involved to organize, campaign and approve such a change. As soon as an organization steps forward, I'll write a check for $100 for campaign expenses and I hope other leading citizens and businesses do too. By the way, public funds cannot be used to lobby for the defeat of such an election.

[mdarling]

I'm not sure where your facts and figures came from. As far as I know the state gets all the sales tax monies, then parcels the city portions out to a particular city and any other entities in that city for which it collects the sales tax. For example, a breakdown could include a percentage for the city, a percentage for city transportation, and so on. These breakdowns are shown on the state tax website; and this is how a business has to figure how much they pay for each entity. Marbles Falls has a 2 percent sales tax. According to the state tax website, the entire 2 percent goes to the city of Marble Falls. I can only assume from there the city pays 1/2 percent to the EDC. There is NO taxing authority for the marble Falls EDC on the state tax website.

[countryboy]

MFs has a 2 percent tax for sales.. As of right now the citys allocations (jan-July) is shown on the State web as being 3,862,878.00 Thats a rounded off number. (Good tibit for ya. The City of Bee Cave has only been allotted 3,796,066 so MFs is past a city with a Big mall)))

So if the EDC gets 1/2 of a percent from that 2 percent they would have recieved 965,718.50. Right?. Thats not chump change if one were to think about what road improvements could get done with that money if returned to the citys coffers and used accordingly.

Makes me wonder why we have an EDC. Have they actually been the reason buisnesses have been coming here??. How many new buisnesses located here due to the EDCs efforts vs those who came here just because they heard MFs was a good place to open up shop?

[bimbo]

if the voters approve this, i hope the council is very careful... these out-of-city candidates who "own" businesses in marble falls, typically don't "own" the building or the property their operating their business out of. many times, the bank or some out-of-state investor/private individual does....

--
"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain." -- The Wizard

[Caretaker]

if the voters approve this, i hope the council is very careful... these out-of-city candidates who "own" businesses in marble falls, typically don't "own" the building or the property their operating their business out of. many times, the bank or some out-of-state investor/private individual does....

--
"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain." -- The Wizard



The only way for voters to have a say in this would be by petition to disband the corp..

Now the council can vote to let them expand the area and I could very well see them doing that. One council member definately will say yes.One has indicated a no vote and the other 4 could go either way on the issue. The mayor most likely will vote for it..