Mark Hill

Mark Hill,  Place 7 on Coppell City Council,  has been in office since May 2014. With his many years of experience, he has begun and carried on many projects to make the city of Coppell a better place. 

What have been some of your legislative priorities?

The change in the sales tax laws potentially occurring was supposed to kick in October of this past year. Right now, taxes are levied on goods that are sold within the state and the sales tax goes to the origination versus the destination. We have a lot of companies in Coppell, especially on the west side, that generate a great deal of revenue for us. With this rule that is proposed, we’re talking about our sales tax revenue decreasing by 55%, which has a huge budget impact on what we’re doing. We are reprioritizing our budget just in case we don’t win that lawsuit, so it’s been quite challenging for staff to put together their budgets and bring those forth to help us achieve that potential loss in the sales tax revenue.

What advice do you have for future city council members?

[Keep] the long term goals of the city in mind and every decision you make and every vote you cast [in mind as well]. We look at maintaining our city at a certain level and how we [can] achieve that long term. [Essentially, think about] what decisions we have to make now to keep that going.

Why did you decide to run for city council?

Back in 2013, [there was a] comprehensive master plan, the 2030 master comprehensive plan, and in that plan they had noted areas of development/redevelopment of the city. I took a deep dive into the comprehensive master plan and once I saw what was proposed I thought ‘this is not why people come to Coppell.’ I felt it was so important [to mobilize] with a group of people in a neighborhood and from that group we then grew. At one point we decided that someone should run for city council so our voices could be heard.I stepped up and said ‘you know, I can do it.’ With that force behind me, I brought that forward as my cause to get on council.

Is there anything that citizens don’t usually consider?

 I think what people have to realize is some of the concepts and ideas put forth [at city council] are not going to take place in the next year or next five years. It’s [going to] be 10 years and beyond looking forward, there’s going to be redevelopment of homes and neighborhoods in Coppell. It’s inevitable; Coppell is in high demand because of [the] outstanding school system and we will see that redevelopment in the future.

How are Coppell employees compensated?

We pride ourselves [on] providing [the] types of services [that] we want to have: the best trained emergency medical services, firefighters and policemen. When we look at our budgets, about 62% of the budget has to do with employee salaries, compensations, benefits and health insurance. We feel it’s important to attract quality employees and they need to be compensated fairly.

What are some of the problems you have to take into account when making decisions?

We had the motto ‘Coppell community for a lifetime,’ and we’ve been trying to figure out a way for seniors to age in place in Coppell because I know countless friends who moved out of Coppell for one reason or another: downsizing, taxes being too high. We’ve been discussing this issue of how to retain seniors.

What do you find important about the city of Coppell?

[People] come to Coppell for family homes [in] its suburbia; you feel comfortable letting your kids run around the neighborhood and I think people want the small town feel that Coppell still has.

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