Paul Gaudette
The Dublin City Council approved a balanced budget and tax rate for 2022-23 in its regular meeting Monday night.
In discussing the budget, City Manager Bobby Mendez said: “A lot of hours went into this budget. We had a lot of discussion with department heads. Everybody gave a little and got a little.”
The council also unanimously (minus the absent Lee Jones) accepted the tax rate of $.8275 per $100 valuation.
Although this tax rate is lower that 2021’s rate of $.9001 (and down even further from 2020’s $.9658), it could yield more taxes on properties due to a rise in appraised values.
With the new building development in Dublin and rise in appraised values, it was announced that lower rate actually represented an increase of 13.17%.
The meeting began with public hearings on the budget and tax rate. No public comments were offered on either.
EMS Director John Tadlock spoke to the council about the new EMS building and the need for an ambulance.
With the rock building behind city hall gone, Tadlock and the architect have been working together for a while and are making sure the building meets ADA compliance. Tadlock is hoping to have finalized designs soon and once approved by the ADA specialist, the project can be put out for bids.
He also reported the waitlist for a new ambulance is 24 to 30 months and is expected to rise to 36 months soon. The main vehicle (Medic-10) for Dublin was purchased in 2019 while the backup was remounted from an older chassis 10 years ago. Tadlock said the demand is so high for the vehicles that contracts include waivers saying buyers won’t be penalized for backing out at any time.
The cost has reportedly sharply increased with a vehicle like Medic-10 going from $198,000 to more than $270,000 since 2019.
With the high wait time and demand and low risk, the council directed Tadlock to get on the wait list so Dublin EMS can get a vehicle when one is needed.
The council also unanimously approved Cody Beam, an Erath native with more than 25 years of experience, as a reserve officer for Dublin PD on the request of Chief Cameron Ray.
Brian Bielstein of 1.21 GW Antiques spoke in public comments, asking for help with rainwater issues on the property. Bielstein said the recent rains brought rushing water and materials from a nearby business onto their property and asked about drainage issues, offering help in alleviating the problem if needed. Dublin Mayor David Leatherwood and Mendez discussed contacting Code Enforcement Officer Keith Riley to speak to the property owner about the issues and get it corrected.
The council also unanimously approved the budget for the Dublin Economic Development Corporation, the annual investment policy in Tex-Pool and appointing the Dublin Citizen as the offi cial newspaper of the city.
Before adjourning, the council voted to reschedule the Oct. 10 meeting to Oct. 17 since the original date coincided with Columbus Day.