RENO — After months of discussion and speculation, a special election will be held for citizens of Reno to decide whether the city will disincorporate.
On Monday night, Feb. 10, the Reno city council took a roll call vote, unanimously approving an ordinance calling for a special election to be held May 3, 2025, for the purpose of allowing voting for or against the proposition of abolishing the corporative existence of the city of Reno.
This comes after a petition was circulated around the city for months, seeking registered voters interested in placing disincorporation on the ballot. The latest petition had more than 400 verified voters, a number required by law to trigger a special election; the petition was filed with the city as well as the Parker County Elections Office Dec. 18, 2024.
Reno Mayor Hector Bas Jr. calls for a special election to be conducted May 3, 2025, whether to abolish the existence of the city of Reno. JOLEE SKINNER | TRI-COUNTY REPORTER
Before the council called for the special election, former Reno council mem-ber Joy Jenkins spoke to the council, saying the council should have called for the special election sooner.
“At the Jan. 27 meeting, the council motioned and voted to table the item (the ordinance calling for placing the matter on the May ballot),” Jenkins said. Jenkins cited the Texas Local Government code chapter 62 section 62.002 which states, “The mayor of the municipality shall order an election on the question of abolishing the municipality’s corporate existence if a petition requesting that the election be held is submitted to the mayor and is signed by at least 400 qualified voters of the municipality.”
Mayor Hector Bas Jr. replied to Jenkins’ comment that the council had until Feb. 14 to order a special election. Citizens will have the opportunity to vote on this pressing issue in the special election; they will also vote for or against the proposition of reducing the tax rate in the city of Reno for the current year from $0.556319 (the adopted tax rate) to $0.340111 (the voter approval rate), a matter the council also approved to be included in the special election.
