The city of Bulverde will give its voters a third chance to declare the municipality a home rule city.
After being defeated twice at the ballot box in the last two years, the Bulverde City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to again place the issue up for a vote in the May election.
Bulverde is currently a general law city — meaning it only has the power to enforce state laws and can’t enact any of its own. Adopting a home rule city charter would give the Bulverde council authority to make its own laws, provided they don’t conflict with those already set forth by the state.
Voters rejected the potential measure by a 419-324 margin in May of 2007, and again by 70 votes, 796-726, in November.
Following its defeat, a home rule charter commission was set up for a third time, looking to tweak the proposal to make it more palatable to the electorate.
City Administrator John Hobson told the council Monday that the perception among many voters was that home rule meant higher taxes for Bulverde residents.
In what Bulverde Mayor Ray Jeffrey called Monday a “firm hand smack at that argument,” the new charter on the May ballot would prohibit the city from having expanded taxation authority.
The proposed charter would have a provision that would not allow the city’s tax rate to go above $1.50 per every $100 in assessed valuation, even though home rule cities normally can charge up to $2.50 per every $100. It also would prohibit the city from going over its rollback threshold.
The current tax rate in Bulverde is around $0.15 per $100.
Councilman Jim Binkley told the audience that he hoped voters would pass the measure to “put the government back in the hands of the people.”
Election day will be May 9, and aside from home rule, both Binkley’s and Councilman Michael Sorbera’s seat will be up for election.
