The Smithville city council held the second of two public hearings on the proposed ad valorem tax rate, but received no comments from citizens, which might be due to the fact that, for the third year in a row, the proposed tax rate will remain unchanged at 0.4785 cents per $100 valuation.

“The council and staff have worked very hard to keep taxes from going up,” Smithville Mayor Mark Bunte said. “We are saving the taxpayers money without cutting services and that’s something to be proud of.”

The city will see an increase in total tax revenue of $16,309 though, mainly due to increases in the taxable value of existing properties and new properties being added to the tax roles.

A lively topic during both tax workshops was employee salaries and several council members lobbied for increases in pay for different segments of the workforce in an effort to retain skilled employees.

City manager Tex Middlebrook said raises for city employees would come from a merit fund established to award workplace performers.

Middlebrook also said that comments published after the first budget workshop did not adequately explain the process.

“Raises will be based on performance – not all employees will receive them – it’s not blanket or across the board,” Middlebrook said. “Increases will be awarded to performers based on yearly employee evaluations managed by department supervisors.”

Bunte said that bringing salaries up to parity and to industry standards for some trades would take time, adding that the city does offer employees a great benefits package.

Council members also discussed increases in fees for some city services, including permits for variances, utility taps, garbage collection and increases for using city parks.

“Most of the increases are being made just so we can cover costs,” Middlebrook said.

The council also met in an executive session for the annual evaluation of the city manager, which adjourned without any decision. The council met a second time on Tuesday, Sept. 7, but no results were announced before press time.

The council will meet on Monday, Sept. 13 to vote on the 2010-11 fiscal budget and resolutions on fee changes for city services.

“We are very happy with the results of the budget workshop and the efforts of our staff on this fiscal budget,” Bunte said. “There will not have to be a tax increase and we are even able to give our employees a small merit raise.”