October 14, 2013 Minutes
CITY OF DENTON CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
October 14, 2013
After determining that a quorum was present, the City Council convened in Work Session on
Monday, October 14, 2013 at 9:00 a.m. in the City Council Work Session Room.
PRESENT: Mayor Burroughs, Mayor Pro Tem Kamp, Council Member Gregory, Council
Member Roden, Council Member Hawkins
ABSENT: Council Members Engelbrecht and King
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1.Receive a report and hold a discussion regarding the 113 Congress, First Session, and
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outlook for 114 Congress, to include Budget and Tax Issues, Sequestration, Municipal
Bonds, Surface Transportation, the Marketplace Fairness Act, and other topics impacting
local government.
Ralph Garboushian, Capital Edge, presented information on the legislative update. He reviewed
the situation in Washington regarding the government shutdown and reaching the debt limit.
Budget issues were the major factor in the shutdown. Over the past year, major federal issues
for the City included (1) funding for core local government programs, (2) sales tax fairness, (3)
protection of municipal bonds, and (4) prevention of unfunded mandates and preemptions of
local authority. The current deficit resulted in deep cuts in programs such as CDBG, HOME and
PD assistance.
Council discussed earmarks and whether they would be reinstituted in the future.
Surface Transportation – Congress enacted a two-year reauthorization of federal highway and
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transit program. Legislation known as the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21 Century
provided funding to previous funding levels. He noted that there probably would be short
extensions before long term authorization of the program. The goal was to get back to 62%
allocation. Maintaining transit programs at the current levels was another goal. Looking
forward to MAP-21 reauthorization next year, priorities for the City would include (1) expansion
of sub-allocation to metropolitan areas, (2) a strong local role in decision making, (3) a focus on
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metropolitan mobility, including a strong transit program andxpansion of the Transportation
Alternatives Program, and (4) equitable allocation of federal highway and transit funds.
Local Authority –The City continued to successfully oppose efforts to preempt city authority in a
number of areas, including city management of public rights-of-way and collection of fees for
the use and management of public rights-of-way; collection of hotel occupancy taxes and
preemption of city zoning authority. The Internet Tax Freedom Act expired in 2014 and
Congress was already looking at renewing it. A key challenge for the City would be to ensure
that renewal did not impact the line access fees that Texas cities collected from
telecommunications providers. The City previously worked hard to ensure that current law
specifically protected them from preemption.
Council discussed the wireless aspect of the FCC provision as some of the provisions could be
harmful due to broad interpretations of the definitions.
Municipal Bonds - Denton had taken a lead role opposing proposals to eliminate or cap the tax
exemption for municipal bonds. The City would have to continue to vocally and forcefully
protect this tax exemption, which was part of the original income tax code.
City of Denton City Council Minutes
October 14, 2013
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Other Areas to Watch – There was a need to continue to pursue funding for the Denton
Enterprise Airport contract tower program, the Fair Housing Act, and the Free Money Market
funds.
Council discussed local control, spending bills, and who in Washington would champion for
cities. It was noted that deep decisions over budget and tax policy continued to grip Washington,
as illustrated by the current stalemate surrounding FY2014 spending and the debt limit increase.
Mayor Burroughs requested that Capital Edge keep Council informed when they should be
working on certain areas for future legislation.
With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 10:30 a.m.
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MARK A. BURROUGHS
MAYOR
CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS
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JENNIFER WALTERS
CITY SECRETARY
CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS