Councilwoman Becky Curtis proposes an amendment to the 2021 budget. xc

Council splits on $20 million budget

The Cameron City Council remains split regarding its $20 million budget, which passed 3-2 Monday night.

Following a raucous public hearing introducing the proposed $20 million budget two weeks ago, emotions did not seem to cool as Councilwoman Becky Curtis and former Mayor Darlene Breckenridge split with current Mayor Dennis Clark, Councilman Roy Estes and Councilwoman Julie Ausmus in the first of two votes.

“We have a line item for our streets that is zero. How do we get our streets (fixed) and why are we not letting the street guy decide what streets need to be asphalted?” said Curtis, who later requested an amendment to reallocate $116,000 for street projects from $232,000 set aside for special projects as part of a collaboration with Cameron R-1 School District, Cameron Chamber of Commerce and other public and private city organizations. “We have streets that are going to need to be completely concreted over and torn down to the dirt because we’re not making movement … I have been told by city staff we need at least $400,000 to [fix] the potholes and keep our [streets] from deteriorating winter after winter because we’re not updating. We’re not doing anything.”

Curtis’ motion to amend the budget failed by a 3-2 vote, but highlighted a growing rift regarding a direction for the city. While Breckenridge and Curtis focused on road issues, Clark, Estes and Ausmus favored keeping the $232,000 special project budget intact in order to tackle projects outlined during the collaborative meetings earlier this summer. 

“I find it very interesting that I got more information off a Facebook post than I got during the finance committee meeting we had … Of all of the things we need to have done, how long have we needed to have them done?” said Ausmus, adding Breckenridge and Curtis both served on the finance committee overseeing city road improvements as well as the previous year’s budget committees. “Is this the first year they were in disrepair? No, this is not the first year they were in disrepair. What were we doing the other years? Last year, it was zero? Why was it zero? Who was on the finance committee last year?”

The special projects include working with Cameron Regional Medical Center to create a massive flag post at the location of the new city park located along I-35; working with the school district to patch potholes along school streets and parking lots; providing water and sewer services to the city industrial park, developing and paving Griffin Road, developing the Cameron Reservoir for tourism, developing the airport corridor and numerous other projects to improve Cameron’s overall livability. Clark estimated the city annually spends $1.3 million on streets and holding off on some projects now may make them cost prohibitive in the future as construction costs continue rising.

“These are projects to innovate and make our town desirable and raising the standards so we can have a better chance of attracting people to come live here, visit here or stop here. If we don’t change what we’re doing, then we’re going to get the same answers,” Clark said. “The reason we didn’t spend anything is because we have a transportation tax. In my view, in this coming budget year, we’re going to raise $615,000 in the transportation tax … There is around $1.3 million, adding those things up, being spent on the streets. Plus, we’re trying to innovate so we can end up getting more money. The idea we don’t care anything about the streets just doesn’t hold water.”

Following his comments, Clark brought Curtis’ amendment to a vote. Later, Breckenridge and Curtis voted against the 2020/2021 budget, which passed 3-2. The council will vote to finalize its budget September 1.

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