Bryan council approves moving municipal elections
The Bryan City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to move its municipal elections to November -- a change that will extend each members' term length by six months.
The move is in response to a new state law designed to give military and overseas voters more time to cast their absentee ballots, but also made it impossible for the city to continue holding elections in May.
The law, which was passed during the most recent legislative session, moved primary runoff elections from April to May. The new runoff date overlaps with voting for municipal elections.
Brazos County has notified Bryan and College Station that it doesn't have the resources to run state and city elections in the same month, meaning the cities must adjust.
By moving the elections to November, Bryan municipal elections will now be on the same ballot as presidential, congressional and statewide races. Bryan officials said that will likely increase turnout and allow the city to save money by splitting the cost of holding an election. It will also allow the council to keep its current three-year terms.
"This will save us money by moving to November instead of buy new machines" to run an election on its own, Mayor Jason Bienski said.
The idea has drawn opposition from some, however, who predict that November elections will be more partisan and make it more expensive for candidates to run.
The new state law allows cities to make the changes without needing to adjust their charter, which would require an election. Due to Tuesday night's action, the next city election will be Nov. 6, 2012.
College Station has decided to put the choice in the voters' hands. Residents will vote "for" or "against" increasing term lengths to four years and keeping elections in May. If they vote against, the elections will automatically be moved to November.
In other action Tuesday, the Bryan City Council unanimously ratified a 2012 property tax rate of 63.64 cents per $100 valuation. That is the same rate residents have paid for 10 years, though the city expects to collect more revenue due to property value increases. With that rate, a resident who owns a $100,000 home will pay $643.60 in property taxes.
And the council approved an electric rate of 9.33 cents per kilowatt hour for 2012 -- up 2 percent from the previous year. The council had previously voted in favor of the tax and utility rate increase, but Tuesday's action made it official.
