Minutes January 12, 19941
CITY OF DENTON CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
JANUARY 12, 1994
The Council convened into a joint session with the DISD Board of
Trustees on Wednesday, January 12, 1994 at 12 noon.
PRESENT: Mayor Castleberry; Mayor Pro Tem Smith; Council Members
Brock, Chew, Cott, Perry, and Miller.
ABSENT: None
Mayor Castleberry indicated that the City's December sales tax
which did not include all the christmas business, was up 35% for
the year.
1. The Council held a discussion regarding mutual assistance
between the City of Denton and the DISD and encouraged continued
joint efforts.
Albert Thomas, Superintendent of Schools, reviewed the mutual
assistance projects between the city and School District which
included shared election expenses, participating in the city's Open
House, participating in "A vision for Denton - the 21st Century",
joint use of local cable access - Channel 26, participation in the
Adopt-A-School program, participation in the DARE program,
participation in fire prevention and safety programs, participation
in the After School Action site program, joint use of the proposed
South Lakes park, joint use of facilities, gyms, athletic fields,
and recreation center, and participation in the school crossing
guard program. He indicated that he hoped the list of mutual
projects would continue to grow.
2. The Council held a discussion regarding the broadcasting of
City Council meetings and DISD School Board meetings using the
local cable access via Channel 26.
Lloyd Harrell, City Manager, stated that Council had started
televising Council meetings approximately three months ago. The
experience with the televising and the feedback received was very
positive. It was felt that many individuals were watching at least
a portion of the meetings. Issues relative to the DISD included
formalizing an agreement regarding the sharing of equipment to
televise the meetings and the potential conflict of meeting dates.
Currently the Council was holding work sessions on the second and
fourth Tuesdays which might be of community interest. As those
were the evenings of the DISD meetings, there might be a potential
conflict with televising. There needed to be a discussion
regarding the expansion of the Council meetings and potential
conflict with the DISD meetings.
3. The Council held a discussion regarding a new elementary
school in Denton.
City of Denton City Council Minutes
January 12, 1994
Page 2
Dr. Thomas indicated that the growth of the DISD district appeared
to be in the east and southeast portions of the City. Issues of
racial mix, socio-economic mix, etc. had to be considered when
looking at a potential school site. The DISD had a commitment to
make the new elementary school, Tomas Rivera, the best possible
school for Denton ISD students. There was a need for an additional
elementary school but a site was not known at this time.
Council Member Cott indicated that a high school tax rate was not
desirable in Denton and asked how long it took to break even with
regards to individuals paying school taxes.
Thomas replied that the new school would house 620 students and
only a few portables would be eliminated. There never was really
a break even point when it came to dealing strictly with tax
dollars.
Mayor Pro Tem smith asked how the school district boundaries were
originally defined.
Thomas replied that the lines evolved over time and through
consolidation of smaller districts.
4. The Council held a discussion regarding the proposed one-half
cent sales tax proposal to reduce property tax.
Lloyd Harrell, City Manager, stated that there would be a special
election on Saturday, January 15th to propose increasing the sales
tax by one-half of one percent and reducing the property tax an
equal amount. If approved, the proposal would go into effect
October 1, 1994. It was estimated that property taxes for the city
of Denton would be reduced by approximately 20%.
5. Miscellaneous Matters
Dr. Thomas noted that the DISD was dealing with the issue of
student safety and school safety in the area of the jails.
With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 1:10 p.m.
CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS
BOB CASTLEBERRY, MAY~R
CITY OF DENTON,T~S ~