The Lampasas City Council will not take further action on a civic center until May 2011, when the project may be placed on a debt issue ballot.

Because of construction cost increases and declining hotel tax revenue, which City Manager Michael Stoldt attributed to a weak economy, council members decided the city does not have enough money to build and operate a civic center now.

Original estimates for the proposed community center at Campbell Park came to approximately $1.2 million, but architects now estimate an enclosed facility with several meeting rooms will cost closer to $2.1 million. The city has about $942,000 reserved for a civic center.

Based on a study of eight municipalities, city staff estimate non-labor operational expenses for a community facility will exceed revenues by $20,000 to $40,000 a year.

Along with a civic center proposal, a $2.5 million to $3 million debt issuance for expansion at the Lampasas Public Library may be included on the May 2011 ballot.

A tax increase likely will be needed to fund one or both projects, Stoldt said. A report presented to the City Council indicated that fund-raising activities, judicious use of reserves and limited use of hotel/motel tax revenues for debt service could keep the tax increase to six or seven cents. An increase of that amount would raise the annual property tax on a $100,000 home by $60 to $70.

Without fundraisers, reserve expenditures or the use of hotel/motel funds, the city tax rate likely would in- crease approximately 9.25 cents -- an extra $92.50 a year per $100,000 of property value, according to the report.

Stoldt and several council members said they want to give Lampasas residents the opportunity to decide whether to borrow money for a civic center.

“That way it will be voted on by the population rather than it just being a decision made up here [by the City Council],” Councilman Evan Stubbs said.

Civic Center Committee chairman Jack Calvert, who said planning for a civic center began in the 1970s, said letting residents vote about debt issuance gives Lampasas the best option to build a community facility within a few years.

Calvert said the inability to construct a community meeting center was one of the biggest disappointments of his mayoral tenure.

“I would encourage all of you, the council and the community, to support this as we go into the next few years,” Calvert said.

In other business, the council:

• voted unanimously to purchase a 2009 one-ton Chevrolet pickup from Jim Hoffpauir Inc. for $33,663. The Street Department will use the vehicle.

• unanimously approved the appointment of Dayton Carpenter, Jason Hamilton and Mike Veroneau to two-year terms as regular members of the Zoning Board of Adjustments. The council also approved the appointment of Gay Wilson as second alternate and Rocky White as third alternate on the ZBA. The board’s fourth alternate position remains open.

• reappointed Jimmie Allison, Jan Donovan, Steve Hudson and Jeff Jackson to three-year Planning and Zoning Commission terms.