JANUARY 25, 2015, MCLENDON-CHISHOLM, TX–Tonight, by a 4 to 1 margin, the City Council of McLendon Chisholm voted to approve the purchase of a municipal bond in the amount of $2.125 million to fund construction of a new 5,000 sqft City Hall building, $612,500 more than the Council had told citizens.

Shockingly, the first time that there was any hint of an increase came this evening just before they approved it and all without notifying taxpayers about the increase in advance!

Mayor Gary Moody highlighted the bond rating and small amount of interest to be paid is an opportunity that the City cannot risk losing, especially if the economy drives interest rates up.

Council Member Gary Lovell, who objected to the project during the initial vote to seek a bond on the grounds that voters should decide if they want to approve a bond that puts taxpayers into long-term debt (for the first time in the city’s history), argued that that the last minute increase in the cost is a clear sign that moving forward with this would be a clear violation of citizens trust. “Voters should be given the right to weigh in on this matter and for this body to charge forward is just wrong and patently indefensible,” said Lovell.

Now with the bond approved construction is set to begin immediately and is scheduled to be completed later this year.