A hearing by the city council to receive public comment on Toot ‘n Totum’s annexation request Monday evening was called to order and concluded in mere seconds. Other than the company’s Director of Real Estate, Bruce Armistead, who had filed the annexation request, no member of the public was present to comment on the issue.

Armistead’s request followed a successful petition to legalize the sale of all alcoholic beverages within the city limits, which triggered a wet-dry election. The special election will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 8—in conjunction with the general election—and registered voters inside the city limits will determine the fate of that measure.

The property proposed for annexation—which straddled the city limits on the north edge of town—was purchased by Toot ‘n Totum chain in 2016, in anticipation of what was then a countywide local-option vote. That vote failed by a narrow margin, and the company CEO Greg Mitchell withdrew his plans to build a convenience store and truck stop here.

Armistead’s petition requested annexation of the entire 10.84-acre tract, although a portion of the property is already within the city boundaries.

The only comment from the council was offered by Mayor Terrill Bartlett, who commended Armistead for having requested annexation into the city. “You didn’t have to do that,” Mayor Bartlett said. “Thank you.”

Given no other response, the council voted 5-0 in favor of Wendie Cook’s motion, seconded by Ashlee Talley, to approve the annexation plan.

City Manager Joe Jarosek said the newly-annexed land will be registered with both the Hemphill County clerk and the county tax assessor/collector, and that notification will be sent to all utility companies, as well as to the state comptroller’s office, which is responsible, in part, for collecting local sales taxes.

For all practical purposes, though, the annexation is official.

The council also took unanimous action to propose an 8 percent increase in the city’s operation and maintenance tax rate for the 2022-23 fiscal year. That decision followed a lengthy debate— not about whether the additional revenue was needed, but about whether it was too big a leap to take at one time.

The tax rate increase will raise the combined Interest and Sinking and Operations and Maintenance rate about 5 cents and generate about $68,000 in additional revenue for the city.

The proposed rate increase, Jarosek pointed out, is 2 cents below the rate that requires voter approval, and significantly below the petition election cap of 83 cents.

“This is not only for this year,” said Jarosek. “We need to be building our general fund. This is a long-term investment.”

Jarosek pointed out that the city has not addressed long-term equipment needs, $5 million in needed street improvements, or the need to build a new swimming pool. “I have no idea what that will cost now,” he said. “The last time we looked it was $1.5 million.”

“We need to build up our revenues so we don’t fall behind,” he concluded. “If we keep taking from the general fund, we’re going to whittle it down.”

The council discussed the possibility of paring the increase down from 8 percent to 5 percent.

“I think people would be shell-shocked with 8 percent,” said Councilwoman Talley. “Five percent would keep us building. It may be more palatable than 8 percent, and still keeps us moving forward. With the costs of inflation, we need to at least take a second and think about it.”

Councilman Gary Prater said he agreed that the rate needed to go up, but worried that 8 percent was too large of a jump. Cook wondered what the county’s other taxing entities had done with their tax rates.

“In the past, I considered what the other entities did,” Jarosek said. “But our needs are significant to us. Hemphill County has a $1.4 billion tax base. The county’s is $1.4 billion. We have $26 million. We have a great deal of needs.”

Mayor Bartlett pointed out that the city had not raised its tax rate in years, adding, “Now, we are almost forced to jump.”

“We are going to be behind the ball if we don’t do something,” Prater agreed.

Jonilyn Hanes noted that the 8 percent increase was a fair representation of the inflation rate.

“A lot of costs are energy costs,” Jarosek explained. “Our healthcare went up. Even with the increased contribution from our employees, we are still paying more for it. Those are major factors.”

Hanes motion to propose an increase in total tax revenues to $0.777067 per $100 valuation was seconded by Prater, and unanimously approved in a roll-call vote.

The council will consider final adoption of the tax rate during their meeting on Monday, Sept. 19.

PHOTO BY LAURIE EZZELL BROWN | THE RECORD