July 22, 2008

NEW WATER TOWER
Work will begin on a new water tower in Northwest Midland. On Wednesday, July 23, 2008, the contractor building the tower will begin pouring the foundation. The media is invited to visit the site on Tuesday, July 22, 2008, to see the massive steel that will be buried in the concrete. The media is also invited to visit the site on Wednesday morning to see the final pour. The location is north of Briarwood on Golden Gate Drive (see directions below).

There are very few pours this big. The base will be made of approximately 525 cubic yards of concrete. A truck carries around 8 cubic yards and this project will take 65+ truckloads of concrete. It must be poured as one continuous pour so the trucks will be running non-stop. They will start at 3 a.m. so they can have the concrete plant to themselves and by daylight should be about done.

This construction is part of the $49 million in bonds sold two years ago. The tower will be the same size (2 million gallons) and look like the one at Hogan Park. Construction time is about 14 months.

This foundation will support the tower and 2 million gallons of water (water weight is approximately 16.6 million lbs.). An interesting note, the tower itself, if empty, weighs in at 2.6 million pounds. So with water it will be 19 million pounds!

The new water tower will provide water to all areas north of Highway 191 and Loop 250 all the way to Highway 349, improve water pressure during peak usage hours, allow the plant to run in a more even fashion instead of the current fluctuations as they try to meet the increased demands throughout the day on a peak basis, and it should reduce the amount of Paul Davis water, the source responsible for our fluoride problems, since this source is used for quick peaks.

DIRECTIONS: Go west out Briarwood (County Road 60) to Golden Gate Drive (old County Road 1242), turn right or north, drive until the paved road requires you to turn left or west and instead turn right or east on a caliche road that will take you to the site.

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CITY PROPOSES DECREASE IN TAX RATE
The Midland City Council today approved placing the proposed property tax rate on future City Council agendas for public hearings. Public hearings on the proposed tax rate will take place on August 5th and August 12th. The first public hearing on the City’s budget will take place on August 19th.

The proposed property tax rate is 48.59 cents per $100 valuation. This is a 9.78% decrease or 5.27 cents less than the current rate of 53.86 cents per $100 valuation. The proposed rate would be the lowest tax rate in 20 years.

The property tax rate has decreased an average of 8.87% over the last three years. In addition, during the last three years, Midland has experienced an average 2.67% increase in the tax rate over the effective rate.

What will this mean to Midland homeowners? Even though residential values have gone up, homeowners should actually see a decrease in the taxes they pay to the city. If you are living in the same house as last year, and have made no substantial improvements to the property, there is a maximum increase of 10% that can be made to your home’s taxable assessed value. Example:

· Average taxable value of a residence homestead in 2007 was $120,751 Taxes were 120,751 (average taxable value) / per $100 x .5386 (property tax rate) = $650.36

· Maximum 10% increase in 2008 raises taxable assessed value to $120,751 x 1.10 = $132,826

· Taxes will be $132,826 (average taxable value) per $100 x .4859 (proposed property tax rate) = $645.40

· $650.36 - $645.40 = $4.96 less

The City of Midland’s proposed budget for 2008-09 is posted on the city’s website at www.midlandtexas.gov.