This is a long, budget-driven meeting — 26 items, centered on the FY 2026–2027 budget and property-tax rate (Items 3–5). The Council will review the budget, set the public-hearing date, and take a recorded vote to propose a tax rate of $0.429041 per $100 — the no-new-revenue rate, just above the current rate and below the voter-approval rate, so no election is triggered.
The rest splits into two blocks. A run of engineering and infrastructure items (Items 6–12) turns the approved $6.43M tax note, grant opportunities, and a $10M water application into actual project lists. And several governance changes are on the table — most notably a proposal to cut regular council meetings from two a month to one (Item 17), plus turning off social-media comments (Item 15) and rerouting open-records requests (Item 16). A Bandidas restaurant incentive (Item 14), an updated development fee schedule (Item 13), and a four-item executive session round out the agenda.
Presiding: Mayor Teresa Palmer. Council: Eric Contreras, Chawn Gilliland, Buddy Wright, Scott Smith, and Nathan Crummel (Mayor Pro Tem). City Manager: Toni Fisher. Invocation: Pastor Jonathan Mansur, Cross Timbers Baptist Church. Agenda: 26 numbered items, including a four-item executive (closed) session. Posted: August 19, 2026.
The Council last met August 11. It approved the $6.43 million tax note — now referenced in Item 7 of this agenda — and placed the Home Rule Charter on the November 3 ballot. The August 11 minutes appear on this agenda’s consent list for approval (Item 2), so their adoption is itself part of this meeting.
The meeting opens with the invocation (Pastor Jonathan Mansur, Cross Timbers Baptist Church), the pledges, and the Mayor’s standing comments (a Bible verse and business recognition), followed by a proclamation in honor of Dixie Smith. Smith was a longtime Willow Park resident and civic leader who died in 2025; the proclamation, coming near the anniversary of her passing, honors her service to the community. The item is ceremonial; no Council action is required.
Dixie Smith was a dedicated Willow Park resident and civic leader who consistently gave of her time and energy to the community she loved. She served as treasurer for Mayor Palmer’s 2025 campaign, was appointed to the Home Rule Charter Commission, and was a regular and thoughtful presence at City Council meetings.
On the evening of August 26, 2025, near the beginning of a special council meeting, Dixie collapsed. She was taken by emergency services to the hospital, where she later passed away.
Those of us who knew Dixie will remember her heart and her voice. My phone calls with her were always uplifting, and she would tell me that God was with us. This proclamation, offered near the anniversary of that night, honors a woman whose commitment to Willow Park was steady, sincere, and deeply personal. Her voice and presence are missed.
— David Allen, Willow Park Citizens Network
The consent agenda is a single item: approval of the minutes from the July 18 special meeting and the August 11 regular meeting. Consent items pass in one motion unless a member pulls one for separate discussion. Adopting the August 11 minutes here makes the record of that meeting — including the tax note, the certificate-of-obligation election, and the Home Rule Charter ballot vote — official.
Three linked items handle the city’s annual money decisions. Item 3 is a review and discussion of the proposed FY 2026–2027 budget and tax rate, reflecting revisions made since the budget workshop. Item 4 sets the date, time, and place for the required public hearing on the budget and tax rate for the year beginning October 1, 2026. Item 5 is a recorded roll-call vote to propose the ad valorem (property) tax rate — the formal step that puts a proposed rate on the table before final adoption.
| Proposed rate | $0.429041 per $100 (set at the no-new-revenue rate) |
| Current adopted rate | $0.421646 per $100 |
| No-new-revenue rate | $0.429041 per $100 |
| Voter-approval rate | $0.470653 per $100 |
| On a $300,000 home | about $1,287/yr in city taxes (roughly $22 more than the current rate) |
The proposed rate is set at the no-new-revenue rate — the rate that raises about the same total revenue from existing property as this year — and sits below the voter-approval rate, so it would not trigger an automatic election. But it is a little higher than this year’s adopted rate, so the city’s share of the tax bill on a given home still rises modestly — roughly $22 a year on a $300,000 home.
Two things to keep straight. First, this is a proposal, not the final rate: Item 5 is a recorded vote to propose a rate and set the public hearing, and the rate is not adopted until a later meeting, after that hearing. Second, that recorded vote is taken by the City Council — the five councilmembers — not the mayor, who votes only to break a tie, or city staff. Residents who want to weigh in can speak at the public hearing once it is scheduled, or contact their councilmembers before the rate is adopted.
Item 6 reviews a draft 2026 Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) document — the city’s rolling list of major infrastructure work. Item 7 covers the specific projects expected to be funded with the $6.43 million tax note the Council approved on August 11. Together these connect the borrowing already authorized to the actual street, drainage, and utility work it is meant to pay for. Watch for which projects make the funded list and their sequencing.
Item 8 is a staff explanation of the difference between a Certificate of Convenience & Necessity (CCN) — the state-granted right to provide water or sewer service to a defined area — and property annexation, which brings land into the city itself. The two are often confused; a CCN sets who provides utilities, while annexation sets municipal boundaries.
Item 9 is a report the Mayor requested from the City Engineer on the city’s CCN boundaries with the Public Utility Commission, specifically asking when, how, and by whom that work was authorized. It reads as an accountability question about the origin of the CCN effort; the discussion should clarify the record.
A discussion of how road-repair projects are prioritized and the history of how past road projects were selected. With significant street funding now flowing through the tax note and CIP, this item goes to the method behind which roads get fixed first — a frequent source of resident questions.
Item 11 weighs upcoming state and federal grant availability against the city’s project opportunities and pending funding requests — essentially, where outside dollars might offset local costs. Item 12 is a report on the water projects the city identified in its application to the Texas Water Development Board for $10 million in water-system improvements. Grant and TWDB dollars matter here because they can reduce how much the city has to borrow for the same work.
Consideration of an updated development fee schedule — the permit, plan-review, and inspection fees the city charges builders and developers. Fee schedules are periodically refreshed to match costs; watch for which fees change and by how much, since they affect the cost of building in Willow Park.
The Council will consider a Chapter 380 economic development agreement with Bandidas Willow Park, LLC, for a new restaurant at The District (Building D, 490 Shops Blvd). Under the proposed agreement, the city would provide a sales-tax abatement on food sales only, for the restaurant’s first two years. Per the packet, the developer estimates about $431,000 in renovation costs, roughly $2.8 million in annual taxable sales, and the equivalent of about 70 part-time and full-time jobs. The request first came to the Council on July 28 and was negotiated into the agreement now presented.
Chapter 380 lets a city rebate a share of local revenue to encourage development. Watch the exact terms — the share of food-sales tax rebated, the two-year duration, and any performance conditions — and how the projected sales and jobs are treated as commitments rather than estimates.
These are “discussion / action” items — the Council may vote on them or may simply discuss them, so none is decided going in. What they share is that each changes how residents interact with the city.
Item 17 — Fewer council meetings. A proposed amendment to Ordinance 1.03.035 would reduce regular City Council meetings from two per month to one per month, beginning October 1, 2026, on the third Tuesday, with special meetings called as needed. The two-per-month schedule is set by the city’s own ordinance, so the Council has the authority to amend it, and its meetings would remain subject to the Texas Open Meetings Act either way. The practical effect is fewer regular, scheduled sessions at which the public can watch and speak.
Item 15 — Social-media comments. A resolution to deactivate public comments on the city’s social-media pages. This is the item most likely to draw reaction, because it removes a channel residents use to respond to the city. On the law: courts have treated government social-media comment sections as potential public forums, where deleting individual comments based on viewpoint can raise First Amendment problems. Turning comments off entirely, for everyone, is generally on firmer legal footing than selectively removing them — but it is a litigated, fact-specific area, and whether something is legal and whether it is good for public engagement are two different questions.
Item 16 — Open-records routing. A resolution to direct public-information (open-records) requests to the city’s portal or in-person delivery rather than direct email. The Texas Public Information Act governs how these requests work; a city has some latitude over how it receives them, but cannot adopt rules that effectively impede the right to request records. Item 18 would set the Planning & Zoning Commission’s regular meeting for the second Tuesday of each month (amending Ordinance 927-25).
Three of these four items reduce public access — fewer regular open meetings (17), one fewer way to respond to the city online (15), and a changed path for records requests (16). None is decided yet; all are up for possible action. Watch the stated reason for each, whether the comment shutoff would apply to everyone or selectively, and whether any councilmember raises transparency or engagement concerns.
A discussion, brought by Councilmember Smith, of establishing a City Emergency Management Team. Watch for the proposed scope — who would serve, what it would be responsible for, and how it would relate to county and regional emergency response.
Under Chapter 551, the Council will recess into closed session for four matters. No action is taken in closed session; anything decided must be voted in open session afterward.
Item 20 — Beall-Dean Ranch lawsuit (§551.071). Attorney consultation on City of Aledo and City of Fort Worth v. City of Willow Park, Cause No. CV26-0175, 43rd District Court. Item 21 — Halff & Associates (§551.071). Attorney consultation on City of Willow Park v. Halff & Associates (Fort Worth Water Project). Item 22 — Police Chief position (§551.074 / §551.071). The personnel and legal discussion of the chief search, which followed the August 18 special meeting on candidate finalists. Item 23 — Employee complaints (§551.071(2)). Attorney consultation regarding discussion of employee complaints.
City Manager comments (including National Night Out on October 6, 2026 at The District of Willow Park), Council and Mayor comments, and future agenda-item requests. No action; a useful window into what may appear on upcoming agendas.
It’s budget season. The core of this meeting is the FY 2026–2027 budget and a proposed tax rate of $0.429041 — the no-new-revenue rate, below the voter-approval rate, but slightly above the current rate, so a typical city tax bill can still tick up. Item 5 proposes the rate and sets the hearing; final adoption comes later.
A lot of infrastructure planning. Items 6–12 turn the approved tax note and pending grant and TWDB dollars into actual project lists — roads, drainage, water, and the CCN questions behind who serves what.
Several access changes worth watching. The Council will weigh cutting its own regular meetings to once a month, turning off social-media comments, and rerouting records requests — each ordinary alone, but together a shift in how residents engage. Plus a Bandidas restaurant incentive and an updated development fee schedule.
