News

June 25, 2017

Fellow citizens,

            Welcome to North Texas summer, everyone.  Let’s hope it doesn’t get crazy-hot too often for too long. 

            Our new city council has met already — we will be just fine.  My personal thanks to those who have recently served:  Timmerle Kelly, Billy Plake and Russell Moore.  Let’s hope they all stay involved in Van Alstyne’s future (I’m sure that they will). 

            I want to write informatively about our new Palladium senior living center.  Much has already been written, but I recently attended an informative briefing by authoritative members of Palladium’s senior staff, and I would like to pass some of what I took from that meeting on to you.  This was a public meeting, and it was well attended.  Palladium hopes to begin leasing some of their quadruplex units sometime in October.  The larger, apartment buildings will not be finished by then. 

Hopefully it is well known that the age limit is strictly 62 and older.  Residents may have overnight or weekend guests, but younger family members will not be allowed to move in.  Palladium is to be a pleasant, spacious place for active, adult seniors to live, even with as many as two pets. 

            A few of the financial aspects are worth discussing:  somehow the Texas Department of Housing & Community Affairs works together with the IRS in subsidizing 100 of the 132 housing units available at Palladium here in Van Alstyne.  These are to be “Affordable Housing” units versus “Low Income” units.  The 32 market rate units may rent from $775 to $975 monthly (at the current rate) while the same units might rent for as little as $650 to $750 monthly, depending on the results of a means test that the IRS dictates. 

            The big news to me, as I understood it, was that the above-mentioned means test is all about your monthly income, not your assets.  What this says to me is, for instance, if you own a home on a lot, you might sell or keep that property in your estate and it is not included in the means (monthly income) test.  If, however, you choose to rent the house (or otherwise draw monthly income from it), then that adds to your monthly income and it will have a detrimental effect on your means test.  For more information, call Palladium at 903-956-0140.  I understand that they have many callers, and they have not yet begun to establish their waiting list for apartments, but they are good for information.  I hope not to mislead anyone. 

            In other news, the City has annexed 16-plus acres just northeast of Palladium for a new planned development.  There may be around 200 new homes going up there before long.  Construction is going well in our other three large developments. 

            I hope to see you all at the 4^th of July fireworks show behind the high school. 

Best regards,

Mayor Larry Cooper