Mayor gives State of the City address

Marlin Mayor Carolyn Lofton gave the State of the City address during the City Council meeting on Feb. 14 citing several good things going on in Marlin.

Lofton announced that the city achieved an A+ S&P Gobal Credit Rating higlighting the fiscal soundness of the city’s financial state.

“When I was elected, we were told that we did not have enough money to make payroll that year,” Lofton said. “We were also notified that the city could not secure a lender due to poor credit rating. The city was on a grant hold probation stemming from 2015.”

Lofton said the city was initially denied the 2018 application for grant/loan funds and had to reapply in 2019 and present to the Texas Water Development Board their ability to improve financial outlook and secure funds for repayment.

Lofton said that through a series of measures including downsizing, taking a cashless approach to bill payment, paying bills on time, creating a rainy day fund and securing 5 percent of water sales for loan repayments along with grants and partnerships the city was able to get a lower debt ratio and obtain a stronger financial outlook for the future.

She also gave an update on the city’s street bond.

“Marlin has bad streets, that is no secret,” she said. “We travel them every day just as all of you.”

She said because of the A+ credit rating the bonds should fund within 30 days.”

She said street crews have been prepping roads since late last year for pavers to complete street repair. Each council member has been tasked with providing the names of streets in their precinct that need repair. Pavers began the project last week.

“Please know that to pave every street in Marlin, the cost would amount to roughly $100 million,” Lofton said. “Our bond was for $2.4 million. By us completing some of the work, we hope to maximize the number of streets we can complete. This bond money cannot be used for any other purpose but street repair.”

Lofton also talked about water bill relief and property sale revenue during the State of the City.

She said that the city lowered water bills by 10 percent in 2020 and voted in December 2022 to create a resolution that would allow the first 4,000 gallons of water to be included in the base rate. That further resulted in a decrease to montly water bills.

She said because of the city’s fiscal responsibility she does not anticipate any future increases.

Lofton said that revenue to the city from previously struck-off property significantly increased since restoring the auction process to property sales.

“We are seeing more home renovations and upgrades to these properties and an increase in familites moving to the Marlin area,” she said. “Some properties are being cleared and our Code Enforcement officer is notifying citizens of the need to clean and clear properties for existing homeowners routinely.”

See next week’s paper for a continuation of the State of the City address.