DO YOU WANT A VOICE IN HOW YOUR MONEY IS SPENT?

For more information about the rollback effort, the "emergency" meeting held by the Big Spring City Council, or the lawsuit filed to enforce Texas law, contact:

Shannon Thomason  (432) 816-3237

or by email at Shannon@BigSpringFreedom.com

HISTORY OF THE EFFORT

September 22^nd, 2009:

The Big Spring city council votes to raise the ad-valorem tax rate from the effective rate (the tax rate required to raise the same amount of revenue from 2008-2009) of 95.0738 cents per $100/value to a rate of $1.0132 dollars per $100/value.  This represents a tax increase of 3.38 cents above the rollback rate of 97.9398 cents.  The rollback tax rate is a rate set by the state and represents an 8% increase of city revenues from the previous year!

September 23^rd, 2009:

The Concerned Citizens Council, in response to the city council raising the tax rate to fund a municipal water park, starts circulating a rollback petition to put the tax increase before the voters.

December 18^th, 2009:

The Concerned Citizens Council, after failing to get enough signatures on the rollback petition, submitted a token petition with the City of Big Spring containing a single signature to indicate our protest of the failure of the city council to give the citizens of Big Spring a vote in how their tax dollars are spent.

Submitting this petition, even though it only had a single signature, started a proverbial clock according to the Texas Tax Code.  The Tax Code states that, once a petition is submitted, the governing body has 20 days to take action on that petition or it is considered VALID and that a tax rollback election must be held.

January 6^th, 2010:

The 19^th day after we submitted the petition, the Big Spring city council met in emergency session to take action on the petition.  The council voted that the petition was invalid and that the rollback effort had failed.  By taking action on the rollback petition on the last day possible, the city council stopped a potential automatic rollback election.  However, the council chose to do so in an emergency meeting called a scant 6 hours before the meeting occurred.  Under Texas law any meeting held by a governmental body must be announced and posted at least 72 hours prior to the meeting to afford the public an opportunity to attend and comment.  The city council claims that this meeting construed an emergency because of reasonably unforeseen events.  We at the Concerned Citizens Council disagree.

January 11^th, 2010:

The Concerned Citizens Council, with guests from the Citizens In Charge Foundation, meets to discuss what action the group should take with regards to the emergency meeting.  Based upon member input, as well as advice from legal counsel, the membership votes overwhelmingly to file suit against the City of Big Spring to hold the city accountable to state law and overturn the action taken at the so-called "emergency" meeting.

February 18^th, 2010:

The Concerned Citizens Council files suit in the 118^th District Court in Big Spring, Texas.  The lawsuit alleges that the City of Big Spring violated the Texas Open Meetings act and requests that the court order the City to invalidate any and all action taken at the "emergency" meeting and that the City set a tax rollback election in accordance with the Texas Tax Code.  Mr. Keith Elkins, executive director of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas attends the filing and holds a press conference detailing the assistance being given to CCC by FOIFT, the National Freedom of Information Coalition, and the John S. & James L. Knight Foundation.

February 23^rd, 2010:

City Attorney Linda Sjogren, representing the City of Big Spring, releases the following prepared statement in response to the lawsuit.  “THE MAYOR WAS SERVED WITH THE PETITION IN THE LAWSUIT FILED BY THE CONCERNED CITIZENS COUNCIL ET AL LATE FRIDAY AFTERNOON. WE AT THE CITY WERE, AND STILL ARE CONFIDENT THAT THE CIRCUMSTANCES PRESENT ON JANUARY 6 OF THIS YEAR MET THE LEGAL REQUIREMENTS FOR AN EMERGENCY MEETING. WE WILL NOT MAKE ANY FURTHER COMMENTS REGARDING THE LITIGATION UNTIL WE FILE OUR ANSWER IN COURT.”

March 29^th, 2010:

In a final hearing in the 118th District Court, Judge Robert H. Moore Jr. found that the City of Big Spring did indeed violate the Texas Open Meetings Act in holding an emergency meeting on January 6, 2010 when no legally valid emergency existed.  He further found that all action taken at that meeting was void and that the rollback petition that was submitted to the City of Big Spring on December 18, 2009 was VALID.  However, the question of whether the rollback rate was the original rate of 97.9398 cents per $100 value or a new rate set by the city was not decided.  As such, a settlement agreement was drafted and agreed to by both parties.

The Concerned Citizens Council is extremely concerned about this latest action taken by the Big Spring city council to prevent YOU, the voters of Big Spring, from having a vote and a voice in how your tax dollars are spent.  We feel that by trying to circumvent the Texas Open Meetings Act and the Texas Government Code, the city council is trying to take away your vote.

As such, the Concerned Citizens Council has vowed to redouble our efforts to ensure that the citizens of Big Spring and Howard County receive the good, fair, and HONEST government that our forefathers fought, bled, and died for!

To that end, the Concerned Citizens Council is currently contemplating legal action against the members of the Big Spring city council in an attempt to require them to abide by state and federal transparency laws.  No lawsuit filed by the Concerned Citizens Council will seek monetary damages that would put an undue burden upon the taxpayers of Big Spring.  We, like most of you, simply want our elected representatives to act less like “elected officials” and more like “public servants”.

On September 22, 2009 the Big Spring City Council voted to raise your city property tax rate.

The "Effective" Tax Rate is 95.0738 cents per $100/value  This is the tax rate required to raise the same amount of money as last year.

The tax rate adopted by the City Council is $1.0132 per $100/value

The Concerned Citizens Council believes that YOU, the citizens of Big Spring, should have a voice and a vote on whether or not the city builds a $4.2 million water park.

In 2006, the city council asked YOU to vote on downtown street improvements and on improvements to the Anderson Sports Complex.  YOU voted overwhelmingly to approve and pay for those improvements.

Now, Mayor McEwen and the council don't want your vote.

Why are they afraid to ask YOU now???

If successful, a rollback petition and election will set the tax rate at 97.9398 cents per $100/value

This number is set by state law and represents an 8% increase in revenues to the city!!!

Our country is in the middle of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.  Our neighbor, the City of Midland, is cutting spending by $800,000 and just froze hiring because of it.  Yet, our city government wants to spend $4.2 million of YOUR money on a water park...without asking YOU!

Does this sound right to YOU?

Is this the right time for a project like this?

The Concerned Citizens Council is working to give you a voice in local government!  If you agree that we need to vote on the pool project, please sign the rollback petition!

Read the rollback editorial by CCC member Shannon Thomason HERE!

MAIL IN PETITION

A petition that you can sign and have others sign.  When complete, just mail it back to us at the address on the petition.

REGULAR PETITION

The original petition.  Please return this petition to us in person or mail it to us at the address on our contacts page

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