Texas City Increases Budget for Christmas Lights by 25%

The Denison Municipal Utilities Board in Texas has decided to add an additional $2,500 to the fiscal year 2023-2024 budget for Christmas lights in the community. This amount is on top of the $10,000 that Denison Municipal Utilities budgets annually for replacement bulbs and labor to hang the lights. The request for a donation of $5,000 was made by Denison Mayor Pam Soseman, who is in charge of the Christmas lighting committee. However, General Manager Rory Weis recommended donating $2,500 instead.

Denison Municipal Utilities is a public utility that provides water and wastewater services to residents of Denison, Texas. It operates and maintains the city’s water distribution system, sewage collection, storm drainage system and sewer treatment plant.

In 2001 Denison Municipal Utilities provided an additional $1,500 for Christmas lighting which was used for swag that hangs over Avenue C. After receiving feedback from staff members, Weis reported that most favored colored lights over white ones due to ease of changing colors and stocking different colors.

Denison Municipal Utilities does not charge the City of Denison in Texas for bulbs or labor and continues to provide support for Christmas decorations in the community. According to a report from Justin Gibbons, Denison Municipal Utilities purchasing agent and safety coordinator who is on the Christmas lighting committee, Denison Municipal Utilities will not be micro-managing the decorations. At the City Council meeting later that day, Mayor Soseman proposed adding color to the Christmas lighting by utilizing 8 existing snowflake decorations and 20 new colored ones in a pattern of three down Highway 30. She did not disclose what the 20 new decorations would be.

Read more from the Dennison Bulletin Review