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Argyle voters will decide on two proposals for this upcoming May election alongside voting for council places 1, 3 and 5.
The special elections will ask voters whether they want to reauthorize the sales tax collections dedicated to street maintenance and extend the council terms from two to three years.
Council unanimously voted to call the special elections at the Jan. 20 meeting.
What’s happening?
Currently, Argyle poses a 2% sales tax rate, with 0.5% of that sales tax dedicated to funding street maintenance. The special election in May will ask Argyle voters if they want to continue putting 0.5% of sales tax dollars toward that fund, per town documents.
“We want to make it really clear that we're not adding another 0.5%,” council member Cynthia Hermann said. “It's not something over and above what we've already done. We're continuing to do what we need to do to help take care of the roads.”
With the sales tax in place, town officials are anticipating collecting a little over $1 million in fiscal year 2025-26 for the street and maintenance fund, Town Manager Mike Sims said.
Currently the street and maintenance fund has $3.7 million dedicated to fixing roads, he said. This fiscal year, the town has budgeted $1.5 million for asphalt work and $250,000 for concrete work. At the end of this fiscal year, the town is anticipating to have $2.7 million remaining in the balance, which includes the anticipated $1 million collected from the 0.5% in sales tax.
“One of my favorite things to do out there is get our streets paved and take care of the quality of our streets,” Sims said. “If you do it every year and you do it on a regular basis, you can really deliver for your citizens some good streets.”
Voters last reauthorized the street maintenance sales tax allocation in 2022, meaning the proposal must be voted on again due to state law requirements, according to town documents. The street and maintenance sales tax was first approved in 2007.
More details
The second special election item asks voters if they want to extend council terms from two to three years and establish a staggered election schedule starting in 2027, per town documents.
If this item is approved by voters, then during the transition period, the election schedule will be as follows:
“I think there’s something to be said about institutional knowledge and historical knowledge and being able to share that,” Hermann said. “With three people coming on and off at one time, that can [be] pretty difficult.”
If this new election cycle is approved by voters, then the council would no longer be able to appoint someone to fill a vacancy if the remainder of the term is less than a year, Town Attorney Brenda McDonald said. Instead, any vacancy would require a mandatory special election.
“I think it's very important to have stability on your town council,” Sims said. “If you review what creates stability, part of that is bringing the level of knowledge that each council member has. The ability to look back in the past and remember things that happened previously. I think those are very important and having a three-year term as opposed to a two-year term really fosters some of that longevity and some of that memory on part of the council.”
Looking ahead
The last day to file for a place on the general election ballot for council places 1, 3 and 5 is Feb. 15. Currently, council members Gustav Svehla, Chad Boyd and Hermann have submitted their applications for a spot on the ballot.
The last day to register to vote is April 3 and early voting runs from April 22 to April 29, according to the Texas Secretary of State website.
Election day will be held May 3.
