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December 22, 2024 – Volume 7 Number 51

HIGHLIGHTS:

* Merry Christmas

* Council approves the sale of 600 W. Kennedale Parkway.

* Senior Tax Freeze missing; Any reduction is very unlikely.

SCHEDULE:

Wednesday, December 25: Christmas. City offices will be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Wednesday, January 1: Happy New Year.

Thursday, January 9: Board of Adjustments/Appeals meeting, 5:30 p.m.

Friday, January 10: Training day for city employees. City offices and Library closed.

Tuesday, January 14: KKB (Keep Kennedale Beautiful) meeting, 6:00 p.m.

Tuesday, January 14: Parks Board meeting, 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday, January 21: City Council meeting, 5:30 p.m.

Thursday, January 23: P&Z meeting, 6:00 p.m.

…..

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City Council Comparison (May2021-May2023 vs. May2019-May2021):

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KNOW WHAT YOUR CITY IS UP TO...

Your City Council

The city council met this past Tuesday, December 17 for their regular monthly meeting. All council members were present. The packet for the meeting can be found at: https://kennedaletx.portal.civicclerk.com/event/3289/files/agenda/9845 . The meeting may be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nBqhP5p3Wg .

(3:18) Start of meeting. The agenda included presentations, regular session, and an executive session.

(5:00) Public comments. There were two speakers. The first speaker spoke of a bad situation on Swiney Hiett Road where at times there are 20-30 employees living in the owner’s house. The second speaker was the Senior Outreach speaker.

Presentations.

(10:29) 1. The first presentation related to city engineering services as presented by Westwood Engineering (the presentation starts on .pdf page 5 of the above packet link).

(28:28) 2+. The rest of the presentations included the regular monthly meeting reports including the financial reports (starting on .pdf page 38 of the above packet link). The financial reports were presented by Felicia Diggs (instead of Director Horton).

Regular Session.

(42:43) 1. Consent agenda (three items). Nothing was pulled or discussed. The consent agenda was approved, 5-0.

2. Individual consideration items (two items).

(43:17) A. Sell EDC property at 600 W. Kennedale Parkway (staff report starts on .pdf page 64 of the above packet link). [No mention of price or any conditions of sale. Also note that the EDC got the property from the city, which I believe the EDC is to pay the city when they sell it?] Based on what was stated at last month's EDC meeting (facts of which could have changed since then) the land would sell for a well-below market rate of $25,000. The developer could put in a car wash and a strip center [with no guarantee of that actually happening]. Also mentioned was a potential 380-agreement with absolutely no details described. No mention of price, but I believe the $25,000 is unchanged. (There was talk of the value being $100,000 and recovering the $75,000). The developer stated, it “could” be the car wash, etc., but nothing definite stated.

They then changed the order of the agenda and went into executive session for discussion.

(1:09:21) The executive session included discussion on litigation (Patterson and Enclave) and board and commission discussions. There were no votes on these executive session items.

(1:29:33) Individual consideration item B. Appoint chairs and vice-chairs to various boards and commissions (staff report starts on .pdf page 67 of the above packet link). I suspect they approved their choices, 5-0. The taped meeting does not have the actual vote.

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Senior Tax Freeze Missing

Back in June of 2023 the city council approved a senior tax freeze. These 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 Kennedale residents. So, what happened or did not happen? Based on what the city manager and city attorney said the tax freeze is happening, as planned, based on the very clear ordinance [written by the city attorney? – does this make his response a little biased?].

I have sent e-mails to the five members of the June 2023 council asking about their intent regarding the start date for the tax freeze. The majority of that council and the public felt that the tax freeze should have started a year earlier than the current process implements it. (Current council member Michels and Nevarez refused to respond.)

I sent an email to and have received an e-mail from the TAD chief appraiser, Mr. Bobbitt. State law is very clear there are only certain things that TAD can issue reductions for, and this does NOT meet the criteria, so there will be no changes on TAD's end. He also stated that his attorney contacted the Kennedale attorney and stated that, “the way the law reads the first year of the exemption establishes the ceiling amount, which then limits the tax in future years. I can see where the intent was; however, it states that tax year 2024 is the first year and the effective date is January 1st, 2024.”

I have sent an e-mail to the city manager, Mr. Hull. I asked two questions:

1. Why are you and the city attorney stating that it is happening as written by the ordinance? It does not appear so to me. Please explain why my version is wrong.

2. If the expectations of the public and the majority of that city council was that there would be no increase on the October 2024 statements, Why was the ordinance not written to reflect that? Should not the attorneys associated with that writing of the ordinance be fired for such an unprofessional job?

His response:

Question #1.

The city attorney and I explained the ordinance. I understand you may not agree or have another opinion, but I don’t believe I need to explain it again.

Question #2.

The ordinance was written and approved by the city council during the June 2023 meeting. Since they approved the ordinance, I can only assume the council's expectations were met.

[Commentary: I have read Texas Tax Code Sections 11.26 and 11.261 and have found NOTHING that suggests the use of the word “start” has to be a year earlier, which is the focal point of the official shoveling going on today. I also found nothing that would have prevented the city attorney from using that earlier year as part of the ordinance, to match the expectations of the majority of the June 2023 council, even with the “start” definition being peddled today. The citizens and the majority of that council hear “the tax freeze will start 2024” and, with good reason, believe the discount to seniors starts then.

The three-page ordinance can be found at: https://kennedaletx.portal.civicclerk.com/event/3288/files/attachment/11739 . At the bottom of page 1 it states, "Effective with tax year 2024, the total amount of ad valorem taxes imposed on the residence homestead of a person who is disabled or sixty-five (65) years of age or older shall not be increased while it remains the residence homestead of that person.".

The removing of the noise/busy words leaves, ["Effective with tax year 2024, the total amount of ad valorem taxes imposed", ... "shall not be increased" …]. That certainly appears that the tax paying senior citizens should not have seen an increase [over the 2023 year] with the statements generated in October 2024. In my opinion, yes, it is extremely clear.

It does NOT say effective with tax year 2024 we will establish a ceiling. It clearly states that the amount of ad valorem taxes imposed SHALL NOT BE INCREASED.

If you watch the meeting where it was approved, staff gave no indication that it would be a year later than public expectations. The June 20, 2023, meeting can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTm2LdTa_YI&t=303s . There is NO concern among staff of this hurting the city's financing, and no mention of delaying this a year later than the expectations of the public and the majority of that city council. The discussion starts at about 2:43:35. The mayor even states it starts on January 1, 2024.

The taxes on January 1, 2024 are the 2023 taxes and by ordinance, effective with tax year 2024 [the October 2024 statements] the total amount of ad valorem taxes imposed SHALL NOT BE INCREASED!!!. Yet, the October 2024 statements DID show an increase.]

Last Week

Last week the city council met on Tuesday. P&Z met on Thursday.

This Week

There are no meetings scheduled this week. Merry Christmas.

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Public Hearings

On Thursday, January 9, the Board of Adjustments will hold a public hearing for BOA24-04 for a side set reduction of 25 feet to 12.5 feet at 708 Corey A. Edwards Drive, 5:30 p.m.

On Thursday, January 9, the Board of Appeals will hold a public hearing for BBA24-01 for the demolition of a single-family house at 6713 Lindale Road, 6:00 p.m.

On Thursday, January 9, the Board of Appeals will hold a public hearing for BBA24-02 for the demolition of a single-family house at 110 Caylebaite Street, 6:00 p.m.

EDC

The next EDC (Economic Development Corporation) board meeting will probably be Tuesday, January 28.

P&Z

P&Z was scheduled to meet last Thursday, December 19. The main agenda item was a work session on the UDC (Unified Development Code). Only three commissioners were present. Their discussion may be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG4rHmgD8Zo . No quorum, no votes. Some discussion points include allowing more structures on larger lots and defining multi-family as over five units. They hope to have the “official” proposed modifications next month.

Other News....

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

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