Communication Committee
On the November 4 ballot (early voting October 20-31) there are seven propositions for voters to consider. Denton voter turnout has been less than 10% of registered voters in recent elections. This means that fewer than 10% of the voters decide the fate for all of the residents in Denton County! Regardless of how you feel about the following propositions, it is extremely important that residents of Robson Ranch VOTE to make their voices heard!
Four of the propositions are bond proposals. If all pass, homeowner taxes would go up about $30 per $100,000 of taxable home value over the next few years. If the total bond package that passes is $30M or less, there may be no tax increase. The bond proposals are:
The issuance of $61,710,000 in bonds for street improvements.
The issuance of $16,565,000 in bonds for public safety facilities for police and fire departments.
The issuance of $8,545,000 in bonds for stormwater drainage and flood control improvements.
The issuance of $11,355,000 in bonds for park system improvements.
Two propositions were placed on the ballot as a result of citizen petitions. The first petition seeks to allow Denton bars to serve mixed drinks and to allow liquor stores inside the city limits. It has been estimated that the city loses approximately $700,000 of sales tax revenue annually to other cities because of the current ban. The second petition seeks to ban hydraulic fracturing within the city of Denton. The propositions read as follows:
Shall the city of Denton, Denton County, Texas, authorize the legal sale of all alcoholic beverages including mixed beverages?
Shall an ordinance be enacted prohibiting, within the corporate limits of the city of Denton, Texas, hydraulic fracturing, a well stimulation process involving the use of water, sand and/or chemical additives pumped under high pressure to fracture subsurface non-porous rock formations such as shale to improve the flow of natural gas, oil, or other hydrocarbons into the well, with subsequent high rate, extended flowback to expel fracture fluids and solids?
The last proposition deals with a land swap and reads as follows:
Shall an ordinance be enacted authorizing the sale of real property consisted of 1.6598 acres and being a portion of North Lakes Park owned, held, or claimed as a park and being a tract of land in the Robert Beaumont Survey, Abstract No. 31, and being a portion of that certain tract conveyed to said city of Denton by deed recorded in Volume 647, Page 245, of the Denton County Deed Records?
Source: Local Propositions lengthen Denton Ballot, published in the Denton Record-Chronicle, 20 Aug 2014 by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe. The entire article is on the HOA website under “Just The Facts.”