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Council approves hotel-tax rules, TCEQ permit update and 5.8% water rate increase
Summary
At its Jan. 6 meeting, the Aransas Pass City Council approved updated TCEQ permitting for the citizen's collection station, formal guidelines for hotel-occupancy tax awards, a code amendment to align HOT spending with state law, a one-day meeting reschedule and an automatic water-rate increase of about 5.8 percent.
The Aransas Pass City Council on Jan. 6 approved a series of administrative and budget-related items, including an updated notice of intent to operate a citizen's collection station, new guidelines for hotel-occupancy tax awards, an amendment to the city code to align HOT spending with state law, the rescheduling of a January meeting and an automatic water-rate increase.
City staff presented the revised Texas Commission on Environmental Quality notice of intent that would expand the materials accepted at the city's citizen collection station. "We're going to add, along with the furniture and yard waste, brush, commercial waste in small quantities, recycle material like metal, and household waste," Marie David, city staff, told the council. David said the change also adds tires to the list so the city's permit remains in compliance with TCEQ recommendations.
The change to the permit is intended to reflect current practice and avoid TCEQ noncompliance for incidental items such as a single fast-food container in a load of accepted material. The council approved the revised notice by motion.
On hotel-occupancy tax (HOT) funds, the council adopted Resolution No. 2025-1070 to establish a formal application process, set March 31 as an application deadline and require post-event reports for recipients. City staff told the council there is about $332,000 in the HOT fund; staff recommended keeping 10% in reserve, leaving roughly $300,000 available for awards. The resolution also specifies the application cycle will be every other year so the fund can grow between awards. Council members and staff noted that funding to the chamber and visitor center is handled separately under the city's code and is not subject to this application process.
Council members also approved an amendment to Chapter 27 of the city code to bring the ordinance into compliance with state law governing allowable uses of HOT funds; staff said the previous language effectively limited uses to the civic center and did not reflect statutorily allowed categories.
The council voted to reschedule the Jan. 20 council meeting to Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, to avoid a city holiday.
On utilities, the council approved Ordinance No. 2025-4480 implementing an automatic increase in water rates tied to the San Patricio Municipal Water District rate adjustment. City staff described the change as an annual pass-through of the supplier's increase: the baseline charge for up to 5,000 gallons would rise from about $5.33 to $5.64, an increase of roughly 5.8 percent across all billing tiers.
All listed items were approved by motion during the meeting with affirmative votes recorded by the presiding mayor as "Aye." Council minutes indicate no recorded dissent on these items.
Votes at a glance: - Revised TCEQ notice of intent to operate a citizen collection station — motion to approve; approved by council. - Resolution No. 2025-1070 (hotel-occupancy tax guidelines) — motion to approve; approved by council. - Ordinance amending Chapter 27 (HOT uses) — motion to approve; approved by council. - Reschedule Jan. 20 meeting to Jan. 21, 2025 — motion to approve; approved by council. - Ordinance No. 2025-4480 (automatic water-rate increase) — motion to approve; approved by council.
The council moved into executive session after the votes and reconvened with no action reported from closed-door discussions. The meeting adjourned following a final motion to adjourn.
