The Mobility Committee is scheduled to host the second of two public meetings to discuss a possible road bond election for the City of Kyle on Jan. 26 at noon at City Hall.
The committee hosted the first meeting Jan. 19 at City Hall, where about 20 citizens gathered to learn about the two bond options the city is considering. City Engineer Steven Widacki and Director of Finance Perwez Moheet also gave presentations about the projects.
Option 1, of which the members of the committee spoke in favor, would include design and construction of improvements to Goforth, Bunton Creek, Burleson, Marketplace and Lehman roads. Option 2 would include engineering for all five roads and construction on Bunton, Burleson and Goforth roads.
"The intent of all of these roadways is to upgrade them to a four-lane section," Widacki said. "We can't do that in all instances, but that's the basic tenet of all of them."
Widacki listed stretches of Burleson and Bunton Creek roads as being infeasible to convert to four-lane roadways.
According to Moheet's property tax impact analysis, Option 1 would raise Kyle residents' average property tax bill by $259.48 during a six-year period. The average annual increase would range from $24.55 to $61.75. Option 2 would raise the average annual property tax bill by $184.58 during the same period.
Moheet said the estimates of property tax increases do not take into account the population growth that Kyle is experiencing. According to figures put together by the city's building department, Kyle issued permits for 241 residential and 43 commercial sites in 2012.
Committee member Joe Bacon referenced his hometown of Alice and the alleged voter fraud that helped land former President Lyndon B. Johnson a seat in the Texas Senate.
"Voter apathy, people who don't voice their opinion, people who don't get involved, people who don't get off the bench, you can't impress me," Bacon said. "In my hometown, 213 dead people voted for Lyndon Johnson."
Bacon said the Mobility Committee has made a point to listen to residents who have attended meetings discussing the road bond issue. Residents who have not participated in the city's discussions should not be surprised if their ideas do not make it into the plan for roads, Bacon said.
"You're behind all those dead people who voted for Lyndon Johnson because they actually got up and voted," Bacon said.