Council is expected to vote on amendments on Feb. 5 that would be placed on a May ballot for voters to approve.
The background
Municipalities form charters to explain what functions staff and council can administer. A Charter Review Commission was formed in August in Flower Mound to explore what could be added to the town’s charter. The Charter Review Commission met publicly five times between August and November, and came up with six amendment recommendations.
Recommendations presented at a Dec. 4 council meeting included:
- Remove all references in the charter to two-year terms, as council members serve for three years.
- Remove requirements that council ordinance captions be included in the local newspaper, except when required by state law, but this information could be put in a place where people can find it, such as the website.
- The town manager does not need to be a resident when appointed but will, after a reasonable amount of time after appointment, have up to 18 months to become a resident of the town. This would be a one-year extension to the six months already in place in the charter.
- The town budget must be filed with Denton and Tarrant counties. Right now, the copy is provided to Denton County. Tarrant County is not mentioned in the charter. State law requires budgets be filed with county clerks.
- The town manager can sign contracts for expenses that would not exceed $50,000, a change from the not to exceed $15,000 threshold.
- A supermajority vote by the council is required for the creation of a tax increment reinvestment zone instead of a simple majority vote.
Town Secretary Theresa Scott went through a presentation Dec. 18 that updated council members on information they sought from the town. One of the amendments called for the town manager to sign contracts for expenses that would not exceed $50,000, a change from the not to exceed $15,000 threshold. Scott reported there were 50 items that were between $16,000-$50,000 in the last three years.
Zooming in
Council approved of moving forward with the first five items mentioned above for consideration of being placed a ballot. During the Dec. 18 meeting, council requested and discussed the amendment on the expense threshold moving from $15,000 to $50,000 but decided to not take any action on the vote needed for the creation of the tax increment reinvestment zone.
Council member Ann Martin said she thought the town would not need another zone in the future. In November, council voted to designate an area on the west side of town as a second tax increment reinvestment zone, which is an economic development tool that can be used by municipalities and counties to finance infrastructure costs in specific geographic areas, according to a previous council agenda. The town’s first reinvestment zone was established in 2005 to provide funds for public infrastructure within the FM 2499 corridor.
“I really think it’s going to be irrelevant,” Martin said.
Council member Adam Schiestel countered, saying he thought the voters deserved a shot to vote on the matter, explaining four out of six charter commission members approved it.
Council also discussed private-public partnerships at the meeting. Town Manager James Childers said a private-public partnerships could entail a number of different arrangements. The charter commission asked that private-public partnerships be examined.
“There’s a wide gamut of what that looks like, and I think that’s the inherent problem,” he said.
He quickly added, though, that town staff could research and provide council examples of public-private partnerships. He said some public-private partnerships are advantageous in that they could put the town in a position that it could save money for the town as far as capital projects.
Scott said she and staff will now work to craft language for the ballot measures that the council will consider in February. At the Jan. 16 council meeting, council will continue the discussion of public-private partnerships.
