CITY STATISTICS

Statistics, 2014

Date of Incorporation 
1907

Adoption of the City Charter
Voted - December 7, 1926
Adopted - January 1, 1927

Form of Government
Council/Mayor

Area in Square Miles
18.89

Miles of Paved Street
Paved 189
Unpaved 0.5

Police Protection

Number of stations - 1
Number of employees (including 19 civilians) - 62
Number of calls for service - 31,518
Total arrests - 1,973
Total number of written reports - 5,196
Total number of building checks - 7,092
Total alarm response - 1,321
Total citations - 1,967
 

Animal Control

Number of employees - 5
Number of calls for service - 6,637
          Big Spring          6,056
          Howard County     509
          Coahoma              59
          Forsan                 13
Number of dogs recovered - 1,161
Number of cats recovered - 860
Number of others recovered - 418
Number of adoptions - 308

Fire Protection

Number of stations - 5
Number of employees - 46
Number of city runs per year - 1,562
Number of non-city runs - 236

Emergency Medical Service

Number of employees - 16
Number of city runs - 4,182
Number of out-of-city runs - 478
Number of long distance transfers - 126

Retired Volunteers Program

Number of Volunteers - 207
Total Volunteer Hours (10/1/2008 - 9/30/2009) - 45,071
Dollar Value to the Community (Based on Private Sector rate) - $221,013

Building Permits (01/01/13 - 12/31/13)  

Number of New Buildings                               

     Residential  - 39
     Residential Valuation - $5,488,806
     Commercial - 10
     Commercial Valuation - $18,693,000

Number of Alterations & Additions 
     Residential - 65
     Residential Valuation - $677,003
     Commercial - 26
     Commercial Valuation - $18,963,000

Number of Residential Re-Roofs 
     Residential - 157
     Residential Valuation - $688,139
     Commercial - 27
     Commercial Valuation - $255,525

Code Enforcement

Number of Incidents - 3,246
Number of Unresolved Incidents - 324
Citations Issued - 164
Compliance Rate - 94% 

Municipal Utility System

Number of active city accounts (annual average) - 8,495
Number of active city units (annual average) - 10,225
Number active non-city accounts (annual average) - 270
Number of active non-city accounts (annual average) - 294
Systems capacity (gallons) per day - 12,500,000
Daily average consumption (gallons) - 5,171,000
Miles of water mains - 177
Miles of sewer mains - 126
Number of fire hydrants - 723
Main Live Valves - 1,639
Manholes - 2,005

Parks and Recreation

Community Parks
     Comanche Trail - 136.00 acres

Neighborhood Parks
     Jefferson Park - .50 acres
     ABC Park - 3.15 acres
     Birdwell Park - 15.04 acres
     Dr. Morgan Park - 7.50 acres
     Heart of the City - .80 acres
     Bert Andries Park - 2 acres
     Russ McEwen Aquatic Center  - 600 Swimmer Capacity

Lakes
      Comanche Lake located in Comanche Trail Park - 148.00 acres
     Moss Lake - 640.00 acres

Baseball/Softball Fields
      Cotton Mize - One softball field
     Stinkcreek - One practice field
     Roy Anderson Complex - 70.69 acres 
             Fields:  5 baseball, 4 softball, 1 practice, 1 football, 5 soccer, 1 football/soccer
     National Little League - 4.60 acres
     International Little League - 3.44 acres
     American Little League - 3.75 acres

Golf Course
     Comanche Trail - 184.75 acres (18 holes)

Street Lights 
    Cost per light per month (annual average) - $16.78
    Total Number of Lights - 1,862

City Employees 
    Full Time - 259
    Part Time - 7
    Seasonal - 21  

Employee Education
     Post Graduate - 3
     Bachelor's Degree - 26
     Associate's Degree - 28

TAXES

Sales Tax:

State Tax 6.25%
City Tax 1.5%
EDC 0.5%
Total 8.25%

Motel Tax - 7% of total taxable receipts 

Property Tax (per $100.00)

Taxing Entity Tax Rate
Howard County $0.30068
Howard College $0.17662
City of Big Spring $0.85664
Big Spring Independent School District $1.36050
Total $2.69444

 

UTILITIES

Water Rates 
All persons supplied with water by the City of Big spring, unless other wise stipulated under separate contract, will be billed for water service at the following monthly rates:

Meter Size Base Rate
5/8" $30.00
1" $35.00
2"  $40.00
3" $90.00
4"    $115.00
6"   $165.00
8" $215.00
10" $265.00
12" $315.00

Usage Rates 

Water Service - Inside City Limits (Residential)

0 - 2,000 gallons $1.50 per thousand gallons
3,000 - 10,000 gallons $3.75 per thousand gallons
11,000 - 20,000 gallons $4.25 per thousand gallons
21,000 - 50,000 gallons     $4.50 per thousand gallons
>50,000 gallons $4.78 per thousand gallons

Water Service - Inside City Limits (Commercial)

0-50,000 gallons $3.75 per thousand gallons
51,000 - 100,000 gallons  $4.00 per thousand gallons
>100,000 gallons $4.25 per thousand gallons

Water Service - Outside City Limits (Residential)

0 - 2,000 gallons $3.00 per thousand gallons
3,000 - 10,000 gallons $7.50 per thousand gallons
11,000 - 20,000 gallons $8.50 per thousand gallons
21,000 - 50,000 gallons $9.00 per thousand gallons
>50,000 gallons $9.50 per thousand gallons

Water Service - Outside City Limits (Commercial)

0-50,000 gallons  $7.50 per thousand gallons
51,000 - 100,000 gallons $8.00 per thousand gallons
>100,000 gallons  $8.50 per thousand gallons

Sewer -Commercial

Base Rate $18.00/month
Sewer Rate   $2.00 per 1000 gallons used
(Usage will be multiplied by 90% to calculate sewer charges)  

Sanitation - Residential

Base Rate  $19.10 per month
Environmental Fee   $1.25 (applied to all accounts with sanitation service)

Sanitation - Commercial

Sanitation rates for commercial accounts are based on the size of the refuse container and the frequency of collection

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