by ANDY SEVILLA
There is no question that driving on Kyle roads can be a bumpy and sometimes dangerous undertaking. Which is why council members are toiling over what proposal would best alleviate the city’s current gridlock.
A proposed $35.3 million road-bond package addressing the five roads – Bunton, Burleson, Goforth, Lehman and Marketplace – that were identified as priority in the city’s visioning process, has begun to undergo dissection, as a majority of council refuses to support the full project.
“If we were to propose all five (roads in a bond election), it would go down in flames,” said Council Member Brad Pickett last week, based on talks he has had with his constituents.
Pickett projected a grim outcome for any package tasked with fixing all five roads. He estimated it would fail, with at least 70 percent of the electorate voting against it. He said last week in a joint meeting between council members and the city’s mobility committee that his estimation stemmed from conversations with constituents that keep “in touch with (him) the most.”
This is council’s second attempt to put a road-bond election before Kyle voters; in August, efforts to get it on the November General Election ballot failed.
“While I am anxious to put forward something to the citizens, I would like us to put something forward that I think would have a reasonableness of passing,” Pickett said.
The city’s mobility committee has recommended that council move forward with the $35.3 million bond proposal as a whole – the “base option” – but they also offered several alternatives to that option, should council decline to advance the full project.
“I love this base option, in that it sets out a bond package as if it’s a capital improvement plan,” said Kyle Mayor Lucy Johnson. “It sets our road plans and our capital developments in this city for the next five years, and that’s fantastic.”
And while all council members have voiced interest in fixing the five roads, they don’t all share Johnson’s desire to put all of them in one package – and up for a vote in May’s city election.
“I, too, am concerned about all the roads,” said Council Member Ray Bryant. “… But I’m really cautious of the citizens’ money and what they can and can’t do. I can’t deviate from that in my mind, so I’m having a hard time absorbing all five roads.”
City Finance Director Perwez Moheet has said the average homeowner’s annual property tax would increase about $260 (a 20.75 cent increase on the tax rate), if all five roads are included in the bond package.
Moheet said the average home in Kyle has been appraised at $125,097. The property-tax increases necessitated from passage of the “base option” bond package would be implemented in yearly stages. Homeowners’ tax bills would increase as each road is improved during the six-year schedule.
Alternative No.1 to the base option is the reconstruction of Bunton Creek Road only, plus the engineering costs for the other four roads. This option is estimated to cost $9.41 million and would increase the average homeowner’s annual property tax bill by $69.17 (a 05.53 cent increase on the tax rate), according to city documents.
Alternative No.2 would reconstruct Bunton and Lehman roads, plus cover engineering for the other three roads. This option is estimated at $16.26 million and would increase the average homeowner’s annual property tax bill by $119.52 (a 09.56 cent increase on the tax rate), according to city documents.
Alternative No. 3 would reconstruct Bunton, Lehman and Burleson roads, plus cover engineering for the remaining two roads. The estimated cost is $23.56 million and would increase the average homeowner’s annual property taxes by $173.18 (a 13.85 cent increase on the tax rate), according to city documents.
Alternative No. 4 would reconstruct Bunton, Lehman, Burleson and Marketplace roads, plus include engineering for Goforth Road. This option is estimated to cost $26.9 million and would increase the average homeowner’s annual property taxes by $197.73 (a 15.81 cent increase on the tax rate), according to city documents.
“We as a city have the responsibility to have safe and quality roads,” said Council Member David Wilson, in support of the mobility committee’s recommendation for a bond package improving all five roads. “It has impact on the value of people’s property and it also communicates to the world that we are investing in our community.”
“Show me a town that is investing in themselves, and I will show you a town that is having businesses that are considering locating there,” he said.
Mayor Johnson said council consensus, at least at the Dec. 13 joint meeting with the mobility committee, was for alternative No. 3. She fought to include Burleson in any proposed bond package because, she said, a lot of people depend on that road.
“I’m going to be really pissed if we don’t include Burleson as part of a bond package,” Johnson said. “I don’t think we can go to the voters of Kyle as a whole and say, ‘Hey we’re just doing two roads (Bunton and Lehman) in one section on the east side of Kyle.’ I don’t think that’s fair to ask everybody in town to put their tax money to improve something that is only going to affect a certain percentage of the city.”
The idea of putting forth several options on the ballot was also considered, but officials cautioned that could split the vote.
Council members are on a short timeline to pass an ordinance calling for a road-bond election, as the recommended date to submit requests for pre-clearance to the U.S. Department of Justice is Feb. 11 of 2013.
