Unfiltered from the Candidate about the need to work with cities near Frisco.

Frisco – City Council Candidate Tim Nelson announced his opposition today to the recent rezoning action taken by the City of Little Elm.

On March 15, 2011, The Little Elm City Council voted in favor of rezoning a 110 acre area from light industrial to multi-family. This area is directly adjacent to the Frisco subdivision of The Trails and sits on the Little Elm side of the border between the two cities. While the floodplain will render roughly 40 of those acres unusable, the remaining will be used for high density apartments.

Nelson stated, “Two things are clear from this decision. The first is that we need to have a better relationship with the Mayor and council in Little Elm. I think Frisco was surprised by this decision and that is clearly an area where work needs to be done. The second is that there is no doubt the density of having 700-1200 apartments going up directly next door to our homeowners will have a negative impact.”

“Cities typically make decisions with the long run in mind. I believe this decision is a quick fix that will have lasting implications for both Frisco and Little Elm and caution should be exercised. It is not too late to step back, gather the facts, and revisit in a way that would build better relations between our two cities. Further, I call on my opponents in the Place 5 race to join with me in opposing this project and hope that they are willing to do so.”

Election Day is Saturday, May 14th, 2011.

You can learn more about Tim by going to his website at http://votefortim.org.
You can follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com//Vote_For_Tim

or Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Elect-Tim-Nelson-for-Frisco-City-Council-Place-5/186917971342578.

For more information, please contact Chrissy Obenberger at 972-632-8221

At the Frisco City Council meeting last night, March 1, 2011, the council voted 4-2 to send the Arts of Collin County bond package back to the Frisco Voter. 

The Arts of Collin County bond package became a hot issue in last year's City Council election where John Keating made it a cornerstone issue of his campaign. The issue helped carry Mr. Keating to a resounding victory over former City Councilman Joyner.

The Arts of Collin County bond package originally passed by the voters in 2002 as a four city project between McKinney, Allen, Plano and Frisco. The then city council stating on video that they would not sell the bonds unless all four cities passed the bond package. Only three of the cities in the deal passed the bonds but the then city council started to sell the bonds anyway.

This issue will be put to the Frisco voter during municipal elections on the May 14, 2011. This issue is sure to define the campaign for City Council and may leave an opening for someone to challenge Mayor Masso who has said Frisco is a second rate city without the Arts project. (the Arts Center is being built in Allen, and for the record- We believe Frisco is a first rate city!)

The 4 Council members that voted to put it back on the ballot:

Scott Johnson

Pat Fallon

Jeff Cheney

John Keating

The two City Council members that voted for the ACC to go forward with Frisco taxpayer input were Bob Allen and Bart Crowder.

The Mayor is only required to weigh in on tie votes but that didn't stop Mayor Maso from making it clear that he thought his opinion was more important than the Frisco tax payers. 

Frisco has an annual budget of just under 78 million. The Arts Center Bond package is tagged at 17 Million or nearly 25% of what it cost to run Frisco for one year. 

 Save Frisco

Can you hear that? That’s the sound of your taxes going up.

Last night, the Frisco City Council approved the proposed property tax increase outlined in the 2010 Budget.

In a 4-3 vote, it was decided that your property tax will go up at the rate of 46.5 cents per $100 assessed valuation, is just under the 46.55 cent effective rate that raises the same amount of revenue on existing property as last year. This was outlined in a story posted earlier this week.

While it is only a 1.5 cent tax increase, it is still a tax increase. Hence the term “Being Nickel and Dimed” It’s not that it is a small increase, it’s that those increases tend to add up making it more difficult for already struggling families to make the mortgage, buy household groceries, and provide a nice middle class life style for their family.

Council went into the meeting with a 3-3 tie. Bart Crowder, Bob Allen, and Jeff Cheney, all for the tax increase. While David Prince, Pat Fallon, and Scott Johnson all opposed the increase. Mayor Maso broke the 3-3, approving the increase at a vote of 4-3.

This 3.3 percent hike will help balance the city’s general fund which currently holds $76 million dollars.

The Frisco City Council will meet this evening to discuss, among many things, the 2010 proposed budget.

A source has told us that currently the council stands 3-3 on the proposed property tax increase, with Mayor Maso holding the deciding vote.

Two public hearings have been held on this matter. The first public meeting was held on August 18th, 2009. The second meeting was held on September 1st, 2009. The budget is scheduled for adoption at a special meeting that will be held on September 17th, 2009.

This particular increase is being called the effective rate increase. Meaning, it will raise the same amount of dollars as the previous year. Because the value of most homes has generally gone down over the last year, the rate must be increased in order to generate the same amount of revenue as the previous year.

Many members of council are for this increase because it will allow them to fill positions and provide additional city jobs that they otherwise will not be able to fill.

It really does seem as though that there are plenty of pros and cons to the tax increase. Yes, it will cost the average home owner just a little bit more each year, but in turn it will provide much needed jobs for the many struggling families still looking for work.

What say you?