Organizations ask council for tax funding

By LPR Staff
Editor/POST-REGISTER

Four of the area”s top tourism-promoting organizations approached the Lockhart City Council on Tuesday evening to request shares of the City”s hotel-motel tax fund.
The Lockhart Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Caldwell County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Gaslight-Baker Theater and the Caldwell County Museum have al

l historically received funding from the city”s hotel and motel bed tax, and each asked the council on Tuesday to allow that funding to continue.
In the past, the Lockhart Chamber of Commerce has received around 61 percent of the funding, while the Hispanic Chamber receives 20 percent and the Caldwell County Museum receives around 4 percent. Under state law, 15 percent of the collected tax is allocated to the arts, and historically, that share has been split between the two live theaters. However, earlier this year, the Gaslight Theater and the Lockhart Community Theater enacted a merger. As a result, they asked the full 15 percent be allocated to the new organization.
City Manger Vance Rodgers estimated the full amount of bed tax to be collected this year at around $70,000.
The council will decide at a later date how to allocate the funds, but asked the organizations to remember that the key factor to distributing the funds is gauged by activities that “put heads in beds.”
In other business, the Council quickly and unanimously decided to grant a request made by the Lockhart Youth Soccer Association to rename one of the fields at the Cpl. Jason K. LaFleur Sports Complex in honor of John Colton “Colt” Miranda.
The association approached the Parks and Recreation Board earlier this month, asking for Field No. 5 to be named the “Colt Miranda Field.” The board enthusiastically supported the request, and asked the council to do the same.
Miranda was an avid soccer player, and often volunteered his time to help LYSA, not only in refereeing games for younger players, but also to help maintain the fields.
“He was a wonderful young man to work with,” said Parks Director Bernie Rangel. “He was a role model, not only for the boys, but for the girls, and I think this is a great way to honor him.”
Miranda died in a car accident on Oct. 31.
In brief news:
The council granted a contract to Quality Road Boring of Granite Shoals, Texas, to replace and extend water mains and install fire hydrants in a variety of areas in Lockhart.
They reappointed Doug Shomette to serve on the city”s Civil Service Commission for a three-year term.
The City will move forward on the long-discussed “rebanding” of many city communication devices under a COPS grant in connection with the City of Austin and Caldwell County.
They discussed incoming bids for trimming trees in various locations around high-voltage power lines throughout the city.
The Lockhart City Council meets on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 7:30 p.m. in the Glosserman Room at Lockhart City Hall. The meetings are open to the public and are also broadcast on Time Warner Cable Channel 10.