Mineral Wells Area News

Reporting By Gary Norman

MINERAL WELLS, TX (Aug. 6, 2025) – The Mineral Wells City Council held a budget workshop and regular council meeting Tuesday, giving department heads the chance to pitch requests for new spending as the City prepares its Fiscal Year 2025-2026 budget.

Department leaders outlined more than $5 million in supplemental requests — above base-level budgets — including:

$2,670,707 for the General Fund $2,408,872 for the Water/Sewer Fund $125,000 for the Economic Development Council

Because the budget workshop extended into the scheduled start of the regular meeting, remaining department presentations were heard under Agenda Item No. 12.

According to information posted on the City’s website, these figures reflect preliminary “wants and needs” and do not represent a final proposed budget. City staff are still finalizing the numbers and will present a formal proposal at a future budget workshop.

Tax Rate Options Explained

Finance Director and Assistant City Manager Aaron Bovos opened the workshop with a presentation on the City’s property tax rate options. He explained how state law restricts tax increases above a certain threshold without voter approval.

Bovos outlined four potential tax rates:

Current tax rate: $0.57329448 per $100 valuation

No New Revenue rate: $0.55219160 (a tax decrease of $13.52 a year on a $178,838 home)

Voter Approved rate: $0.57178810 (a tax increase of $21.52 a year)

Voter Approved + Unused Increment rate: $0.61360110 (a tax increase of $96.31 a year)

While recommending the Voter Approved rate, Bovos noted that if Council pursued the higher Unused Increment rate, the estimated $500,000 in additional revenue could be earmarked for street repairs. Combined with $900,000 already in next year’s street budget, the city could invest up to $1.4 million in road work.

Council is expected to schedule public hearings on both the budget and tax rate during its Aug. 19 meeting.

Other Council Meeting Highlights:

Agenda Item 7 – The Council approved accepting the donation of a 2016 Ford Explorer police vehicle from the UNT Health Science Center Police Department. The vehicle was inspected and deemed in good condition with 75,000 miles.

Agenda Item 8 – The Council approved transferring a decommissioned tender/tanker truck from the Mineral Wells Fire Department to Palo Pinto County Emergency Services District No. 1. The truck has a failed water manifold but is still usable for water shuttle operations. The city is currently using a Parker County ESD #6 tanker at $10/month.

Agenda Item 10 – Council approved an interlocal agreement with Mineral Wells ISD for the district to provide citywide technology services at no cost. Highlights include the hiring of a City Technology Support Specialist Services provided by MWISD include: Hardware/software support Networking and cybersecurity Data management and automation. In return, the City will continue to provide five School Resource Officers to MWISD—one for each campus during the school year.

Agenda Item 11 – Council passed a Resolution denying a proposed natural gas rate increase from Texas Gas Services, which would have raised residential rates by over 12%, while lowering commercial and industrial rates. The Resolution also authorizes the City to join a coalition to oppose the rate hike before the Texas Railroad Commission. Texas Gas Services will be required to reimburse cities for related legal and research costs.

Agenda Item 15 (Executive Session) – Council authorized the Mineral Wells Economic Development Corporation’s Project Wellness program to provide a $500,000 grant and $250,000 loan to support job creation and tourism initiatives within the city.

Additional Information

Full budget documents and supplemental item lists are available on the city’s website at Budget Work Session • CivicClerk.