Q -  How will Henly comply with any ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) requirements?
A -  Any structure built/owned by the city will be compliant with the ADA.
       Any business establishing itself in Henly will also have to be built so as to be ADA compliant.

Q - Where will city hall be located?
A - There are no plans for a city hall in the foreseeable future. Town counsel meetings will be held in individuals’ homes, the Henly Volunteer Fire Department facilities or at the Henly Baptist Church facilities.

Q - How will you keep your staff of volunteers once incorporated? Doesn’t the volunteer pool tend to dry up?
A - There will always be a “core” group of supporters who will volunteer their time and efforts to support a cause. Beyond that group, recruiting will be the mainstay of our volunteer force.

Q- Isn’t this just a grab for power by a few people who want to run things?Aren’t the members of the board of Friends of Henly just out to “rule” Henly to boost their own egos?
A - No. The people who started Friends of Henly, to preserve what we have in Henly, are most interested in getting Henly established as a Municipality for that reason, to preserve Henly against the onrush of development.

The board members may or may not even be part of the city government after incorporation. By Texas state law, those who want to serve as city officials must file their application, run their campaign and be elected by a public vote. They cannot be appointed or assume office, they must be elected.

Q - What will the city budget be for year 1, 2, 5?
A - We are working on developing a projected budget.  The budget of the city will not be set by Friends of Henly. We're only trying to work up some estimated numbers for information sake.  Those people that our residents elect to office in the city will determine the final budget. 

21. How Will Henly Comply With A.D.A. Regulations?

16. Won't We Lose Services Currently Provided By The County?

6. Won't People Go To Henly To Fulfill All Their Needs?

*1. Why Should Henly Incorporate?

*2. Isn't This Just A Power Grab?

*3. Are There Alternatives To Incorporation?

Q -   Won’t we lose our other support like road maintenance, law enforcement, fire and medical?  Won’t these then become the responsibility, physically and financially, of Henly?
A -  Newly formed cities sign agreements with their county to continue support for these services until the city becomes able to provide those services themselves. Most cities sign these agreements, called interlocal agreements, but never receive a bill from the county for the services. 

​​​​​Q -   Why should Henly Incorporate?​
A -   Everyone, has seen that expansion and development is moving toward Henly, primarily from the east at this point.We sit at a focal point between Austin and San Antonio as the major cities and Dripping Springs, Blanco, and Johnson City as minor cities. We are also very close to, and receive a lot of traffic from, the major intersection of Highways 281 and 290, just to our west.

​This area is going to develop, despite the fact that nobody who lives here wants to see that development.

Standing by, doing nothing is a guarantee that that expansion will happen in Henly with no controls, no restrictions, and with or without the consent and agreement of the residents.

Friends of Henly’s main goal is to try to preserve as much of our rural land and lifestyles as possible during this inevitable expansion and development.

After doing a lot of study, research and consideration of alternatives, incorporation appears to be the most comprehensive method of maintaining this control and, we feel if done properly, can be done with minimal impact on and disruption of the lives and property rights of the residents of the area.

There are alternatives which are being carefully considered and will be adopted if they are found to be better for our residents while not lacking in the control of expansion that is needed to keep Henly, Henly.

Q - Someone must pay the bill.  What taxes can be expected? Where will the money come from? (Sales / Ad Velorem)
A - Sales Tax: Henly’s sales tax will be 8.25%- in alignment with every other municipality in Texas

Ad Velorem Tax (property tax): We intend to incorporate with a -0- % tax rate. If services are required by the residents or if expenses cannot be met through sales tax reimbursement and franchise fees, an Ad Velorem tax of 1-2 cents per hundred (0.0001% - 0.0002%) Dollars may be levied. For those who are anxious that a city government will tax them to death, if the assessed value of your land (that's after all exemptions and deductions) is $200,000.00; at 1 cent per hundred, your tax would be $20.00 for the year. At 2 cents per hundred, it would be $40.00.

Franchise Fees. Every city strikes an agreement with the various utilities that have access within the city limits to be paid an agreed upon fee for that access. This would include such companies as the electrical company, telephone company, trash companies, gas companies, etc.

Grants from the State or Federal Government: Strings can come with these sources of income. With the state or federal grants come specific strings, standards, and bureaucracy. While most of the strings represent federal laws or standards, some of these require action that may not necessarily be that which the community would have elected on its own so the city officials must do due diligence when considering grants and not just dive for the money.

17. Can Henly Guarantee That Quality Of Service Won't Decline?

9. What Will City Officials Be Paid?

13. Where Is The Money Going To Come From?

11. How Will You Retain Your Volunteer Staff?

Q - Can Henly raise my taxes if I live in the ETJ?

A - No. Henly, or any city the size of Henly, has no taxing authority in its ETJ (Extra Territorial Jursidiction). This means that it has no power to raise, lower or change any aspect of the taxes on property in its ETJ.

The community has asked lots of questions.  
Any question that is a concern to the residents deserves an answer. After a lot of research, answers can now be given

*15. Can Henly Annex Properties In The ETJ?

Q- Isn’t this just another layer of government? The incorporation of a city creates one more level of government over a group of people. Many of these people moved out to the unincorporated area to be free from government.
A - Yes, incorporation does create another level of government, no one has ever tried to hide this fact or mislead anyone about this.  But this isn't just ANOTHER layer of government, this is government that is held accountable for their actions by the people who reside in Henly.  This is government by and for people in Henly and which must answer directly to them.

Government that is closer to the people is more attentive and responsive to the residents. Our nearest government entity is at the county level. There are no county officials living in Henly.

Many people have made the decision that they would rather be led by a few people who live in their community, friends and neighbors, rather than many people miles away, embedded in a government agency with a multi-million dollar budget who have no direct connection to their community.  They realize that people who don't require an appointment weeks an advance are probably more responsive than those who do.
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The Mayor and City Commissioners, or Aldermen, must file for candidacy like any other public official, campaign to convince the voters that they are the best people for the job and then the voters will state their preferences at the polls, hopefully electing officers who will do a good job of running the city and who have the residents’ best interests at heart.

​Q - Won’t Henly become the focal point of responsibility?
A person living in an unincorporated area knows that he, as a rule, must handle any problem by himself, but when the city incorporates, there is someone else to turn to. Many times, citizens develop needs and look to the city for the solutions
A - This very well could happen.  But, it probably won’t.  People that are elected to office in Henly should reflect the will of its citizens.  Our citizens are typically fiercely independent and will likely demand that Henly be governed as a low-tax low-city service community but one that is a staunch defender of our heritage with its primary focus being preservation of property rights and that heritage.

Our residents are unlikely to come to the city for aid as they are so accustomed to taking care of themselves.  Any increase in services would mean an increase in expense for the city and funds would have to be raised to meet that need.

Q - What liability protection will Henly have against lawsuits, etc.?
A - The Texas Municipal League has an insurance pool specifically designed to offer very low cost insurance to new municipalities.

Q - What will city officials be paid?
A - All officers of the city will hold office as a volunteer position with no pay or benefits, except possibly
liability insurance for the officers.

​Q - Can the Henly annex properties in the ETJ?
A - No. The Texas Legislature has made it extremely difficult for small municipalities to annex properties in their ETJ. As a matter of fact, in the case of Henly, residents in the ETJ would need to petition the city if they wanted to be annexed. This petition would have to be voted on and approved before that property could be annexed.  This places the power of annexation in the hands of the residents.

*4. Isn't This Just Another Layer of Government?

Q-   Are there alternatives to incorporation?
A-   Yes there are. We’ve studied several and found that while each has its benefits, each also has its drawbacks, including Incorporation.  There is no solution that we’ve found that both satisfies the resident’s demands for independence and non-interference and also provides the necessary power to guide and shape the expansion (especially commercial) of the Henly area.

For detailed information about some of the investigation we've done, please visit our FAQ's page and look under "Q&A about Alternatives To Incorporation"

We’re still looking.

18. What Kind Of Ordinances Will Henly Have?

19. Will Henly Have Zoning?

Q - Will Henly have zoning? How will zoning be determined and carried out?
A - Initial zoning will follow current tax exemption guidelines. Agricultural will be zoned agricultural, wildlife management will be zoned wildlife management, residential will be zoned residential and so on.

20. Can Henly Control What Happens On Private Property?

*14. Can Henly Raise Taxes in the ETJ?

Q - Can Henly control what happens on private property?
A - Only within the city limits and will be limited by the minimal permits, ordinances, and zoning statements the city enacts.

In the ETJ, the only control Henly will have will be when a property’s use is reassigned and the property is to be subdivided or the use of the land will change. At that point how the land is used after the sale can’t be controlled but ordinances regarding water, roadway access, lighting and the like can be brought into force to maintain development without detriment to neighboring property values.

Q - How can we be guaranteed that Henly will maintain the quality of services once it takes them over? Don’t many of the smaller cities and towns have difficulty providing a level of services that is adequate to meet the needs of the people, and then the services are not always equally provided.
A -  The intent is to offer minimal services in order to keep operating expenses to a minimum.
After a time, if the residents find that they want the city to provide services, budgets must be drawn up to estimate the cost of those services, not only to establish the service but also to sustain the service into the future.

Q - Will there be a city secretary?  Who? How much will they be paid?
A- See item the item above. The city secretary, if it is determined that one is needed, will work for no pay or benefits.

8. Where Will City Hall Be Located?

10. Will There Be A City Secretary?

*5. Why Do We Need Local Government?

Q - What kind of ordinances will Henly establish / enforce?
 A - We plan a minimum number of ordinances, mostly focused on maintenance of the environment and appearance, in an effort to keep Henly as close to the atmosphere it has today as the town grows.

The more ordinances are created; the more they must be enforced.  Enforcement costs money and so minimizing ordinances is in alignment with the goal of a minimal government and budget.

​Q - Why do we need local government?  Won’t the county’s regulations and restrictions protect us from this expansion?
A- No. In an early meeting, our County Commissioner, Ray Whisenant,  stated that the county has very little control over what goes on in unincorporated areas of the county like Henly.

Basically a few restrictions on water and air quality and road easements and the like but no real powers that could be beneficial to help us keep Henly from experiencing uncontrolled growth.
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Also, consider the fact that even with those limited powers, the county isn’t paying much attention to what’s happening in Henly. They have much larger issues to consider. The fact that we don’t have any county officials living in Henly makes us even more invisible to them.

With our own city government, run by people we know, who are neighbors, and who have the same interests as we do, we have direct access to our governing officers. Much better than having to go all the way to San Marcos or waiting days to get an appointment with one of the officers.

7. What Will The City Budget Be?

12. Will Henly Have Liability Protection?