A standing room crowd gathered into the Krugerville City Hall to celebrate the swearing in of Police Chief Stoney Ward, Sgt. Alfonso Desantiago, Officer Katrina Thomas and Officer Daniel Byrum as well as the promotion of Sgt. Jeff Pruett.
Ward spoke to the officers highlighted during the meeting—Pruett as an existing member of the department and the other three as new members—as well as Officer Clay Parrent, who was in attendance.
'Before we start this, I can tell you is there's a lot of officers and a lot of support here as well,' Ward said. 'I can promise you that I will never forget where I came from. I promise you and that's my oath to you. You're always going to have my back because I'm always going to have yours.'
Earlier in the meeting, Ward's title shifted from interim police chief to permanent police chief following a quick executive session.
Ward was also happy to administer the oath for Pruett and Desantiago as sergeants.
'One of the main things, one of the happier things that I've gotten to do is move forward with promoting some folks inside the department and outside the department that I've worked with for many years,' Ward said. 'I can always say that I credit Alfonso Desantiago with all the good and all the bad that I am as an officer. … And then JP has just been my second brother from the word go, from the first day I started.'
Also at the meeting, the council approved the tax rate of $0.422571 per $100 valuation as well as the proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.
The adopted rate is lower than the rate adopted in 2024, with the increase in tax revenues coming as a result of increased property values.
'It's important to note that our tax rate will decrease from last year's tax rate, however, the amount of the ad valorem tax collection will be increasing,' Mayor Pro Tem Kristen Kromer said.
The budget is projected to draw in $174,589 more in revenue, with $89,918 coming from new property.
The council also voted to retain the Post- Signal as its newspaper of record.
Also during the meeting, Kromer announced that after years of asking for one, Krugerville will finally have a traffic light at one of the most dangerous intersections in the city's borders.
'TxDOT's approved a light at Stewart Road and 377,' she said. 'It's official. It hasn't happened yet. I don't know when it will happen, but it's official.'
State Rep. Jared Patterson, R-Frisco, also stopped into the meeting to share a legislative update with the council and crowd.
Among many other points, Patterson mentioned water issues and an increased property tax homestead exemption, both of which will appear on the Nov. 4 ballot.
'Not only in addition to the dollars that we're already spending on water development, water infrastructure, we committed an additional $2.5 billion to water over the biennium,' he said. 'And then, if you all approve a constitutional amendment this November, we are setting up a fund to do $20 billion over the next 20 years of sales tax revenue dedicated to water development policy.'
