| Position on tax cut questioned Stovall says he didn't mean to mislead voters 04/08/2001 By Wendy Hundley / The Dallas Morning News Plano City Council member Steve Stovall's position on taxes came under fire this week from his opponent, who says Mr. Stovall is misleading voters by saying he supported reducing the property tax rate.
Mr. Stovall has said that he voted for a tax-rate reduction that was approved by the City Council.
Minutes show he voted against the ordinance that lowered the city's tax rate by 1 cent.
"I'm disappointed that such disingenuous information is being circulated," Mr. Stovall's opponent, Joy Flick, said in a statement released Friday. "Mr. Stovall should own up to his record and stop trying to mislead the citizens of Plano regarding his true position on this very important issue."
Mr. Stovall denied intentionally misleading voters, saying he had interpreted his vote for the city's overall budget ordinance as an endorsement of the reduced tax rate.
"If I'm incorrect, I stand corrected," he said Friday.
A Stovall re-election campaign flier distributed this week at a Plano Chamber of Commerce candidates forum, states: "I have voted to decrease the tax rate the last two years while building parks, fire stations and other improvements throughout Plano. I will continue to work to bring high-caliber businesses into Plano to keep taxes low, to put more books in our libraries and to improve infrastructure."
The dispute centers on the council's budget discussions in August and September.
On Sept. 11, the council approved the 1 cent tax-rate reduction – from 46.85 cents to 45.85 cents per $100 valuation – in a 5-3 vote. Mr. Stovall, Pat Evans and John Roach Jr. cast the dissenting votes.
Mr. Stovall and the other opponents expressed concern about unfunded budget items and changing the tax rate at a time when reduced franchise fees and retail development outside of Plano may hurt the city's revenue stream.
"I did vote against the tax rate [reduction] because there were strong economic indicators at the time that the economy was slowing down. Therefore, I felt we ought to hold steady on the rate," Mr. Stovall said Friday. "I was following a more conservative approach than some of my colleagues."
Following the tax cut vote at the Sept. 11 meeting, the City Council unanimously approved the city's budget and capital improvement ordinances.
"My opponent does not understand the budget process," Mr. Stovall said. "The council had preliminary votes on a number of items, one of which was the tax rate. We worked through the issue and that's the way we reach compromises. If she had checked, the entire council voted 8-to-0 for the budget, which included the tax rate."
But Plano budget director Karen Rhodes said the tax rate, budget and capital improvement programs are addressed by separate ordinances.
"If you have three different ordinances then there are three different votes," Ms. Rhodes said. "When you vote on the budget, that's the expenditure side. The tax rate is how much you're taking in."
The operating budget ordinance, included in the council's Sept. 11 packet, sets the level of appropriations and transfers for the various funds. It does not specifically mention the tax rate but includes language referring to revenues "from all of the various sources."
When told that the ordinances were separate, Mr. Stovall said, "I'll really have to go look at that."
He said he thought the final vote on the budget included the amended tax rate. "There's no way I wish to mislead anybody," he said. "I'll have to go look at those to make sure. I thought when we voted on the whole thing we included the tax rate."
If he's been mistaken, he said, he will issue a correction in the next few days and cease to state that he supported cutting the tax rate.
"I felt like I was voting for the [amended] tax rate," he said.
Staff writer Wendy Hundley can be reached at 214-977-6980 and at .
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