June 8, 2025 – Volume 8 Number 23

 

HIGHLIGHTS:

* June 7 runoff results: Michels wins reelection.

* City Council held budget workshop on Monday.

 

SCHEDULE:

Tuesday, June 10: KKB (Keep Kennedale Beautiful) meeting, 6:00 p.m.

Tuesday, June 10: Parks Board meeting, 6:30 p.m.

Thursday, June 12: Building Board of Appeals meeting, 5:30 p.m.

Saturday, June 14: Flag Day.

Sunday, June 15: Father’s Day.

Monday, June 16: Unified Development Code (UDC) Workshop, 6:00 p.m.

Tuesday, June 17: City Council meeting, 5:30 p.m.

Tuesday, June 24: EDC (Economic Development Corporation) Board meeting, 6:00 p.m.

Thursday, June 26: P&Z meeting, 6:00 p.m.

Friday, June 27: City offices and library are closed for training.

Friday, July 4: Independence Day.

…..

Senior Tax Freeze

http://arlspectator.mysite.com/blank_10.html

 

Texas Open Meetings Act Violations???

http://arlspectator.mysite.com/blank_9.html

 

The Bridge:

http://arlspectator.mysite.com/blank_12.html

 

City Council Grades:

http://arlspectator.mysite.com/rich_text_26.html

 

Kennedale Observer website:

http://arlspectator.mysite.com/index_3.html

 

Latest Kennedale Observer newsletter:

http://arlspectator.mysite.com/rich_text_44.html

 

KNOW WHAT YOUR CITY IS UP TO...

Your City Council

The city council met this past Monday, June 2, for a budget workshop. The agenda for the meeting can be viewed at: https://kennedaletx.portal.civicclerk.com/event/3632/files/agenda/10142 . All council members were present. The meeting may be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN0wdVP2MLM .

(3:00) Start of meeting. Citizen forum saw no public speakers.

(5:40) They want to combine the city manager's office, city secretary, and human resources into one department (Administration Department). Finance Director Horton presented the multi-department effort. They want new public information software at $10,315/year [meanwhile they are looking for a city secretary, and do not have that person's perspective on the software selected...]. They want to start a city-wide employee incentive pay for certifications and education [in what I suspect is a very tight budget year, many higher paying positions require certain certifications and education, so let's pay them double...]. Then he wants to introduce a civilian step plan [again, looking at a very tight budget year]. He says the cost is roughly $150,000 [it looks like about 2% increases between steps]. About 8:47 he starts with the Finance Department’s requests. He wants to add the Grant Specialist and make his 0.75 person a full-time person. [Wasn’t the new expensive software supposed to be making the system less work intensive?] This comes at a cost of roughly $155,000. At about 21:58 Mr. Glover asked about revenue. Staff is predicting a 3% bump based on history [, but there is NO big increase this year because there are no new TAD evaluations].

(25:17) Police Chief Holguin presented the police department and library items. He is asking for two new police officer positions, one police captain, and one captain. That would have a budget impact of just over $425,000. They are looking for $8,500 for a library camera security system. About 34:11 is the start of council questions.

(42:38) Fire Department. They want three addition firefighter/paramedics positions. They also want a $2.1 million 107-foot ladder/aerial fire truck. One council person made reference to coming hotels [with corporate welfare] as justification for the fire truck [so are the hotels costing more than they will make?].

(1:08:51) Library, Community Center, Communications. “Wish list” is a good description.

(1:37:35) Public works. They want a new project manager position ($80,000 [plus benefits]), a new dump truck ($251,000), man lift ($80,000 used), 60-inch mulcher ($32,000), and Rogers Farm upgrade ($160,000). He estimates $2 million/year just for pavement maintenance (not concrete). Other items: Peggy Lane water/sewer/roadway (already designed, $3 million); ?$50 million for street lighting; Cloverlane Drive repavement ($150,000); Need to start looping dead-end water, starting with Danny Lane to save on “flushing” cost ($1,000/week); North Road improvements in addition to block grant area ($300,000); Linda Drive ($500,000 water, $400,000 sewer, $200,000 roadway); Eden Road and New Hope Road bridges ($625,000); and Channel cleaning – new Eden Road bridge ($100,000). About 1:56:41 starts the council’s questions.

(2:15:50) Debt discussion. It looks like either $8 million in one year, or $6 million one year and $5 million the next. Then they decided $8 million in one year is not really an option.

The next regular monthly meeting is on Tuesday, June 17.

 

June 7 Runoff

The June 7 runoff unofficial election results:

Amanda Hollins          184     42.4%

Kenneth Michels      250    57.6%

 

Last Week

Last week the city council met for a budget workshop.

 

This Week

This week the Keep Kennedale Beautiful (KKB) and the Parks Board are scheduled to meet on Tuesday. (KKB agenda , Parks agenda)

On Thursday the Building Board of Appeals has a meeting scheduled. The agenda should be posted on Monday.

 

Public Hearings

On Thursday, June 12, the Building Board of Appeals will hold a public hearing on BBA25-01 to consider action on a city-initiated request for demolition of a single-family dwelling, previously deemed sub-standard by the Building Board of Appeals, located at 6713 Lindale Rd.

On Tuesday, June 17, the city council will hold a public hearing on PZ25-07 for a conditional use permit for a battery energy storage system at 509 S. New Hope Road.

 

EDC

The next EDC (Economic Development Corporation) Board meeting should be on Tuesday, June 24.

 

P&Z

The next P&Z meeting should be on Thursday, June 26.

 

Other News....

Infrastructure Improvements

Swiney Hiett is to start on pavement improvements on Monday, June 9. This is the section from Joplin Road to Sublett-Collett Road.

North Road waterline improvements are scheduled to start on Monday, June 16.

 

County Changes Boundaries

This past Tuesday, June 3, saw the County vote 3-2 to redistrict. Lawsuits have been filed against the action. District 2 is expected to be a lot more Republican and District 94 State Representative Tony Tinderholt has announced his intention of running for the seat.

Miranda Suarez and James Hartley of keranews.org have an article on the commissioners' court action: https://www.keranews.org/government/2025-06-03/tarrant-county-redistricting-vote .

Miranda Suarez has an article in the Fort Worth Report on the lawsuit: https://fortworthreport.org/2025/06/04/tarrant-county-residents-sue-the-county-commissioners-court-and-judge-tim-ohare-over-redistricting-2 .

Penelope Rivera of keranews.org has an article on the Tinderholt announcement: https://www.keranews.org/politics/2025-06-03/republican-tony-tinderholt-running-for-tarrant-county-commissioners-court .

 

TAD Rates

Tarrant Appraisal District has published the tax rates (October 2024) for the county. Kennedale is now the fifth highest municipality. [https://www.tad.org/content/rates/2024TaxRates.pdf ].

Top ten of 41 (everyone else is < 0.65)

1. Everman 1.0260800

2. Sansom Park 0.7796050

3. Forest Hill 0.7240940

4. Blue Mound 0.7220330

5. Kennedale 0.7061900

6. White Settlement 0.6798160

7. River Oaks 0.6758270

8. Fort Worth 0.6725000

9. Burleson 0.6627000

10. Grand Prairie 0.6600000

 

Senior Tax Freeze

Back in June of 2023 the city council approved a senior tax freeze. The three-page ordinance can be found at: https://kennedaletx.portal.civicclerk.com/event/3288/files/attachment/11739 . This would be applicable for the city portion of property taxes where properties have a homestead, and the owner is 65 or older. The KISD, the county, and Tarrant County College also have senior tax freezes.

Apparently, this did not happen for City of Kennedale residents. So, what happened or did not happen? The city manager [poorly] addressed the issue at the November 2024 council meeting. [The “official” stance of the city manager and city attorney and backed by the three incumbents running in this year's election, is that the tax freeze is happening, as planned.]

The city administration has done a MAJOR INJUSTICE to Kennedale seniors by a) writing an ordinance incorrectly and/or b) failing to explain how the ordinance was to start back in June 2023. For example, Fate, Texas, in Rockwall County, implemented a senior tax freeze (with the ordinance written correctly) in August 2023, two months after Kennedale, and their seniors saw a freeze on their October 2024 statements. The major difference between the two ordinances is the Kennedale ordinance states effective January 1, 2024, while the Fate ordinance states effective immediately.

The November 2024 city council meeting can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFR_rKkFyg8&t=3116s . The discussion of the item begins at about 47:36.

Some quotes:

48:16 Mr. Hull: “Currently, the ordinance is written where it takes effect in 2024.” [Meaning IF the city attorney wrote the ordinance correctly it would have helped seniors with their October 2024 statements, but since he didn't, it won't.]

48:46 Mr. Hull: “The ordinance does not read for 2023 that was not even the intent...” [Not true. He wants you to go back to the June 2023 city council meeting but let us instead go back to the April 2023 Work Session on the subject. (See timeline below for April's council meeting information.) Mr. Hull states, “So ultimately, the tax [freeze] would not affect us until the 2025.” [2025 IS THE OCTOBER 2024 TAX STATEMENTS. These are the statements that DID see an increase, but back in April 2023, based on the city manager's own words, the tax freeze should have affected.]

49:15 Mr. Hull: “Even then [June 2023] it was indicated and confirmed the tax freeze takes place in 2024.” [Here's the problem. In basic English the expectations of “2024” meant the October 2024 Statements. There is no prerequisite for council members to be a lawyer, or in this case, a specialized tax lawyer. The expectation is the city attorney and/or the city manager would explain to the council members any fine points of the law that would make a difference on any subject. At NO point in April 2023 or June 2023, was anything stated to council members of the significance of a January 1, 2024 start date.]

49:36 Mr. Hull: “So with everything that is being said with reference to when we filed it, when we didn't file it, if we did, if we didn't is minute.” [NOT TRUE. If it had been filed in a timely fashion TAD could have pointed out the required changes to make it match Mr. Hull's April 2023 statement. When TAD did finally get it in November 2024, they made suggested changes on another part of the ordinance that needed modification. The city DID modify that other part of the ordinance and passed the modification a month later at the December 2024 meeting.]

50:05 Mr. Hull: “We have looked at the possibility, even as someone made a comment, about doing a reimbursement. Unfortunately, we cannot do that on the legal side. So even if the intent was to be in 2023, we can't do that by law.” [It is true the law does not allow a reimbursement for this reason. However, since they even looked into it, it pretty much tells you the intent was 2023, even though their official stance is significantly different.]

51:19 City Attorney: “If I could Mayor, just add one thing, it's not just the ordinance, Mr. City Manager, it's state law that governs. So, 2024 would have been the earliest the council could have done it anyway under state law. And it is state law that governs in this instance. So the ordinance adopted by the council was the earliest the freeze could be adopted.” [2024 is the earliest the current poorly written ordinance could be adopted, however, like Fate, Texas, in the State of Texas, where their ordinance was written two months later than Kennedale's ordinance, they were able to write an ordinance that said effective immediately (instead of January 1, 2024) and their seniors got their benefit on their October 2024 statements.]

Timeline.

April 2023 the city council discusses the item as a work session item. [That meeting may be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ndf8BqnPjBw . The discussion on this item starts about 1:40:27. ]

1:44:59 Mr. Hull: “So ultimately, the tax [freeze] would not affect us until the 2025.” [2025 IS THE OCTOBER 2024 TAX STATEMENTS. These are the statements that DID see an increase, but back in April 2023, based on the city manager's own words, the tax freeze should have affected.]

minutes: https://kennedaletx.portal.civicclerk.com/event/3017/files/agenda/8873

staff report: https://kennedaletx.portal.civicclerk.com/event/3017/files/report/11354

June 2023 the city council approves the ordinance, 5-0. The June 20, 2023, meeting can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTm2LdTa_YI&t=9815s . The discussion on this item starts about 2:43:35. At no point did anyone mention a delay in the implementation or that the effective January 1, 2024, meant there would be a delay in the implementation from the expectations of the April meeting. There were no statements/comments about this being different than the April 2023 meeting.

2:44:11 Finance Director Horton “[The tax freeze] does seem consistent with neighboring communities, having a tax freeze for senior citizens. Budget impact is minimal. I don't necessarily see a downside from a financial perspective. We will need to make up a little bit of funding, but from a personal standpoint, not a financial standpoint, I do feel the little bit of hardship we might have to face as a city versus the goodwill it will bring for the senior citizens, the correct would be to go with the freeze.”. [Yet the people that CLAIM to have “understood” the implementation delay, caring so little about the seniors, said or asked nothing regarding making a change to aid the seniors sooner. In my opinion, that certainly implies they DO NOT CARE about the seniors.]

2:45:05 Council Member Horton: “Is it my understanding that this won't take effect until 2024?”

2:45:11 Mayor Joplin: “January 1.” [then a comment by Mr. Nevarez]

2:45:42 Mayor Joplin: “And it does say on the last page that the ordinance will be in full force effective January 1, 2024.” [If you are one of the people, as the CLAIM is, who knows this is only loading the cap data, would this not have been a good time to speak up and explain the difference between “full force” and what they claim the law is? [and they claim the ordinance was clearly written...]]

minutes: https://kennedaletx.portal.civicclerk.com/event/3019/files/agenda/9175

staff report (with NO mention of January 1, 2024 significance; NO mention of timeline being any different than discussed in April): https://kennedaletx.portal.civicclerk.com/event/3019/files/report/11786

Questions

1. So why did the status change from April 2023 and the city manager stated it would affect 2025 to the implementation being delayed? Why was nothing stated about this change before the vote at the June 2023 meeting informing the council (and the public) of the change?

2. Why did the city administration not produce an ordinance to match what was discussed at the April 2023 meeting, and did not tell them they were voting on something different?

3. Why was the effective date of January 1, 2024, used instead of “effective immediately”?

4. Why was the importance of the January 1 date not explained?

5. At the June meeting, after the finance director spoke about the minimal impact, why did not one of the people who “understood” the delayed implementation not ask or comment to implement earlier to help the seniors? Are these people so uncaring about Kennedale seniors?

6. At the June meeting, after the use of “full force” where the majority of the city council and the public thought what they were getting was as it was stated by the city manager in April 2023, why did not one of these who “understood” the delayed implementation not clearly point out that 2024 was only going to be a cap loading year?

7. What is so important and being concealed, that people appear to be willing to fall on this sword for it?

 

HELPFUL WEBSITES and CONTACTS

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Senior Tax Freeze Missing

http://arlspectator.mysite.com/blank_10.html

 

Texas Open Meetings Act Violations???

http://arlspectator.mysite.com/blank_9.html

 

The Bridge:

http://arlspectator.mysite.com/blank_12.html

 

Texas Open Meetings Act Violations???

http://arlspectator.mysite.com/blank_9.html

 

Kennedale Observer: KennedaleObserver@yahoo.com

 

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Kennedale Observer website:

http://arlspectator.mysite.com/index_3.html

 

Latest Kennedale Observer newsletter:

http://arlspectator.mysite.com/rich_text_44.html

 

City Council Grades:

http://arlspectator.mysite.com/rich_text_26.html

 

Old Texas Raceway property project:

http://www.arlspectator.mysite.com/whats_new.html

 

The City of Kennedale website: www.cityofkennedale.com

Mayor and City Council Emails:

Mayor – Brad Horton BHorton@cityofkennedale.com

Place-1 David Glover DGlover@cityofkennedale.com

Place-2 Thelma Kobeck TKobeck@cityofkennedale.com

Place-3 Kenneth Michels KMichels@cityofkennedale.com

Place-4 Chris Gary CGary1@cityofkennedale.com

Place-5 Jeff Nevarez JNevarez@cityofkennedale.com

 

Recordings of City Council meetings can be viewed at:

[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4a2pjrnxZ5XrbsXcoLOP4Q?view_as=subscriber].

 

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