Former city councilman and Chaplain Dave Fair spoke to the Brownwood City Council Tuesday morning and recounted the events September 11, 2001 when the council meeting was interrupted with the breaking news of the tragic events that unfolded that day and council dismissed early. Fair then led the council in a moment of silence to honor the victims of that day.
As business was taken up for the city council meeting, the first of two public hearings was held regarding the proposal to increase total tax revenue from properties on the tax roll by 1.5% by adopting the proposed tax rate of $0.7452 per $100 evaluation (which is the same rate as last year). There were no comments from the public and no changes to the proposal. The proposed tax rate will be adopted during a special called meeting on September 20, 2011 at 9:00am on first reading and during a regular meeting on September 2, 2011 at 9:00am on second and third reading. Council will adopt the current tax rate and the average tax value of a residence in Brownwood increased from $72,272 to $73,253 due to an increase in number of properties on the tax rolls.
Items on the agenda were approved which included:
*Council approved an ordinance on second and third/final reading adopting the 2011 National Electric Code.
*A motion was approved to request the Brown County Commissioners consider a resolution supporting the Senior Citizen’s Program application for Texas Department of Agriculture “Texans Feeding Texans: Home-Delivered Meal Grant Program”. This grant is established to provide partial funding for home delivered meal programs in Texas. The actual grant depends on how many organizations in the State of Texas apply for the grant. Brown County Commissioners participated by approving a similar resolution the past few years.
Grant criteria:
- Is based on the number of senior citizens in each county as of the last census. Brown County saw an increase of 1,676 to 9,634.
- The grant is not eligible for meals that are funded by Title #3, #19 and #20. In 2010/2011 there were a total of 1.744 meals that were unfunded locally. The grant amount depends on the number of other grant recipients throughout the state. The amount to be received by Brown County will be known by December 15, 2011.
- The county must contribute 25¢ per meal per person for each Brown County resident who is at least 60 years of age to receive full funding of the grant. In the last census, Brown County had 9,634 people who were at least 60 years of age. This amount multiplied by the 25¢ equals $2,408.50 which is what the County’s contribution should be in order to qualify for the full grant amount. Brown County is already a partner in the Senior Citizen Program and contributes well over the $2408.50. In 2010/2011 Brown County will have contributed $70,619 or about 15.2% of the total program.
- Deadline to apply for the grant is November 1, 2011.
*Council approved an ordinance on second and third/final reading amending Chapter 74 of the code of Ordinances of the City of Brownwood regulating ambulance services and vehicles operating in the city limits.
*Council approved amendments 02-23, 02-24, and 02-25 to the 2010/2011 Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services (DADS) vendor agreement. This resolution authorizes the Mayor to sign these agreements with DADS and the West Central Texas Area Agency on Aging (WCTAAA).
The 2011/2012 reimbursement rate for the congregate meals (at the Senior Center Annex) from WCTAAA will purchase 9,287 meals at $5.67 for $52,657.29 based on available funding and is 29¢ less than last year’s budget. The balance of home delivered meals and congregate meals not covered by these three funding sources will be covered by Senior Citizen Donations, the City of Brownwood, Brown County and the City of Early. The contract period is from October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012.
*Council approved a motion to ratify the Mayor’s appointments to the Brownwood Housing Authority which are re-appointments of Mary Acuna, Cathey Day and Charlene Tedford for two year terms which will expire September 15, 2013.
