The West Orange City Council adopted the city’s budget for next year on Tuesday evening. The $3.5 million budget has a tax rate of 42.5 cents per 100 dollars value which is unchanged from this year. The Council approved the agreement between the city and the West Orange Municipal Police Association which includes a 2 percent pay raise for the police officers. Public Works Officer and Police Chief Mike Stelly was nominated by the City Council to represent West Orange on the Texas Municipal League Employee Benefits Pool Board of Trustees. Registrations are now being accepted by the city for the annual Holiday in the Park which is scheduled for November 7.
Keith Brice with Granger Chevrolet announced another upcoming event involving West Orange. Brice said Grangers will be conducting a second 5-kilometer Walk/Run at the dealership on Saturday, October 10, with benefits from the event going to the United Way. Last year’s event according to Brice raised $8600, and the goal for this year’s event is $20,000 to be able to give the United Way a check. Brice was primarily requesting assistance from the West Orange Police and Chief Stelly to help with traffic control during the 5-K walk through parts of West Orange.
Ordinance 414 in West Orange has spurred a lot of discussion from landlords in the city who are required to register their rental properties and pay to have them inspected under the ordinance. Tuesday evening the West Orange City Council discussed the ordinance at the request of Councilman Dale Dardeau. His concern was the ordinance becoming a money making venture for the city. Dardeau said he was on the committee when the city adopted the ordinance, and it was not intended to make money for West Orange. He was in favor of dropping the annual $50 registration fee from the ordinance and only charging a re-inspection fee for properties that fail their first inspection.
Mayor Roy McDonald agreed with the suggestion that the city maintain the current initial $50 registration fee because many landlords have already paid their initial fee. He mentioned several other cities have similar ordinances that also charge a registration fee. McDonald advocated continuing to charge a fee for properties that fail an inspection and need to be re-inspected, but reduce the annual fee or possibly remove the fee after it has been paid once. The item was open only for discussion on Tuesday’s agenda, but Mayor McDonald indicated it would probably come up for action by the Council on a future agenda.
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