Pearland - Friendswood Edition | January 2023

CITY & COUNTY

Top city & county stories to watch in 2023

2023 ANNUAL COMMUNITY GUIDE

Pearland hires legal counsel, starts search for new city manager

BY DANIEL WEEKS

“The way the law is set up, if there’s a clerical error or any kind of an error in the [property tax value assessment] worksheet, you can’t x it. So everybody knows it’s wrong, but there’s no x,” Cole said. Cole said a corrected worksheet would allow the city to work with the correct values in the creation of next year’s budget. He said he could not comment further due to the potential for litigation. The original worksheet sent to the city July 29 incorrectly listed the city’s total taxable value at about $11 billion, but the real value was about $9.5 billion. This overvaluing brought the city a $10.3 million decit. Council members did not specify the target of the potential litigation. In comments provided after the meeting, Kamkar said the city was hiring legal counsel to “possibly take this to court and force the county to do something they may end up being supportive of.”

THE CAUSE OF THE CRISIS The original tax worksheet sent to the city July 29 featured incorrect information that lead to a large overvaluing of the city’s properties and a decit.

PEARLAND The Pearland City Council authorized the hiring of legal counsel in December for potential litigation following a worksheet error that caused a $10.3 million decit and began the process of hiring a new city manager. The council voted 6-1 with Council Member Alex Kamkar dissenting to hire unspecied legal counsel. The council also tapped into government resources to assist in the search for a new city manager after it unanimously voted to re previous City Manager Clay Pearson and appoint Deputy City Manager Trent Epperson to the role in the interim in November. Mayor Kevin Cole said the city is hiring legal counsel for the purpose of acquiring a “corrected worksheet,” referring to the sheet from Brazoria County that contained incorrect information regarding property values in Harris County, causing the city’s decit.

TAXABLE VALUES

Correct worksheet TOTAL

Incorrect worksheet

PROPERTY

97.7%

14.1%

$9.5B

$1.3B $30M

$11B

SOURCE: CITY OF PEARLANDCOMMUNITY IMPACT

Friendswood expected to see progress on various drainage projects in 2023

Pearland poised to call drainage bond

PLANNING THE PROJECTS Friendswood is working on a number of drainage projects throughout the city.

BY DANIEL WEEKS

CLEAR CREEK

BY RENEE FARMER

PEARLAND At a Dec. 12 Pearland City Council meeting, the Citizens Drainage Bond Advisory Committee recommended to the council 14 drain- age projects totaling $106.17 million to be funded by a potential May bond program, which is widely supported by council members. Proposed projects include drain- age improvements to Harkey Road, the Shady Crest and Creek View subdivisions, and the southwest quadrant of Old Town. The council also discussed non-drainage items that could be in the bond, including up to $51 million in adjustments to facilities.

scheduled for later in the summer. The city is waiting on $320,000 in funding from the Texas General Land Oce related to the project. An engineering study for the FM 1959 detention basin has been completed, and a project kicko meeting will be held in January for the parties involved. Friendswood will owe $7.05 million following preliminary and design engineering, likely in one to two years. To fund this project, the city estimates an increase to the scal year 2023-24 debt service tax rate of $0.015 or the movement of $700,000 from the general fund.

FRIENDSWOOD The city is near- ing completion on its rst Hurricane Harvey relief project with other projects set to be completed in 2023. Friendswood Deputy Director of Engineering Samantha Haritos shared an update on the city’s drain- age projects during Friendswood City Council’s Dec. 5 meeting. Following building demolition, hydromulching and the transfer of the green space title, Frenchmen’s Green Space will nish in spring 2023. Forest Bend Oine Detention ponds B and C are under con- struction with project completion

COWARD CREEK

CLEAR CREEK

Blackhawk terracing Detention basin Frenchmen's Creek green space

Forest Bend oine detention FM 1959 detention basin Whitcomb detention space Terracing

SOURCE: CITY OF FRIENDSWOOD COMMUNITY IMPACT

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PEARLAND FRIENDSWOOD EDITION • JANUARY 2023