Priorities Pattern

While 12,000 gallons per hour of waste spill into the Trinity River, the Tarrant Regional Water Board increases its rates and prepares to go to court to take land by eminent domain for Trinity Uptown.

Read the Fort Worth Star-Telegram article here.

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For the 13th consecutive year the district’s tax rate of 2 cents per $100 valuation remained unchanged, but it will provide about $8.2 million for the general fund budget, which includes $10.4 million for the massive Trinity Uptown, the remaining portion of the $64 million it committed for the project.

The board will determine any increase in the salary of Executive Director Jim Oliver, who earns $286,000.

The board tabled using eminent domain on 0.565 of an acre at 841 N. Houston St. owned by Texas Refinery Corp. because of "a technical error," said Steve Christian, the water district’s property director.

The water district’s eminent domain powers were preserved in 2005 when Gov. Rick Perry signed a bill hailed as preventing government from seizing property to generate more revenue. But Senate Bill 7 has many loopholes, including allowing the water district to use eminent domain to acquire property along the Trinity River.