Weslaco Area Chamber of Commerce
301 W. Railroad St.
Weslaco, TX 78596
Local: (956) 968-2102

Community Profile

Located on the eastern edge of Hidalgo County, centered between McAllen to the west and Harlingen to the east. Seven miles north of the Mexican Border city of Nuevo Progreso.

Population

Year	1980	1990	2000	% Change 90-00	2005 (Census)
City	19,331	21,877	26,935	18.78	Estimate 30,416
County	283,229	383,545	569,463	32.6
State	14,229,000	17,045,000	20,851,820	18.20

Geographic Data

City Area:	14.12 sq. miles
Average elevation:	70.5 ft.
County area:	1,567 sq. miles
Miles of Street:	Graded 1.65 Paved 97.54

Climate

Average Annual
Rain:	23.34"
Snow:	0"
Temperature:	74 °
Seasonal Temperature:	January: 51 °, July 90°
Direction of Prevailing Wind:	Southeast

Municipal Services

Date of Incorporation: 1919
Date of Adoption of City Charter: December 14, 1927
Council of Governments Member: yes
Form of Local Government: Single Member District
Annual Budget (08-09): $37,857,572
Building Permits: 2008
Permits Issued: 1,084
Estimated Cost: $30,168,960

Police (Full-time): 75	Firemen (Full-time): 72
Number Employees 105	Number Employees 76
Number of Sub-stations 2	Numbers of Sub-stations 0
Number of Stations 1	Number of Stations 3

Number of pumper trucks: 6 and 1 ladder
Dive Rescue team and Hazard Material team
Fire Insurance Rate: Class 4
Fire Service Outside the City: yes
Ambulance Service: yes Rescue Service: yes
Number of Ambulances: 6
City Zoning Regulated: yes
City Planning Commission: yes

Utilities

WATER

Supplier: Hidalgo County Water District #9
Water Source: Rio Grande River
Plant Capacity: 8.12 mgd Avg. Daily Use: 4.744
Peak Use: 6.688 mgd
Basic Rate: $10.06
Cost/1,000 gallons over Basic Rate: $1.79
Elevated Storage: 1.3 mgal Ground Storage: 1.05 mgal

SEWER

North Sewer Treatment Plant Treatment Type: Extended, Aeration racetrack
Plant Capacity: 3.0 mgd Present Load: 2.3 mgd
Sanitary Sewer: yes
Complete Sanitary Sewer Coverage: 112 miles
Storm Sewer: yes Storm Sewer Coverage: 50.94 miles
Flat Rate: $10.80 Cost/1,000 gallons over Basic Rate: 1.23
Solid Waste Disposal Type: City
Residential: yes Commercial: yes Industrial: yes

SOUTH WASTE WATER TREATMENT PLANT
South Waste Water Treatment Plant
Treatment Type: Extended, Aeration racetrack
Plant Capacity: 2.5 mgd Present Load: 1.6
Sanitary Sewer: yes
Complete Sanitary Sewer Coverage: 101.27 miles

SERVICE SUPPLIERS

Electric Company:

Ambit Energy
Amigo Energy
Brilliant Energy, LLC
Champion Energy Services
Cirro Energy Texas Power
Commerce Energy
CPL Retail Energy
Dynowatt
First Choice Power
Gateway Power Services
Gexa Energy
Green Mountain Energy Company
Hudson Energy Services
LPT LLC A Liberty Power Company
Mega Energy, L.P.
MXenergy
Nueces Electric Cooperative Retail Division
Reliant Energy
Simple Power
Spark Energy, L.P
StarTex Power
Stream Energy
Texas Power
Texpo Energy
TriEagle
TXU Energy
U.S. Energy Savings Corp.
YEP Energy

www.powertochoose.org

Natural Gas Company:

www.texasgasservice.com

Telephone Company:

Cable Providers:

www.timewarnercable.com/riograndevalley

Transportation

HIGHWAY/INTERSTATE TRANSPORTATION

Nearest Interstate Hwy: I.H. 35 Distance: 100 miles
Nearest Major Highway: U.S. Hwy 83 Distance: 0
U.S. Highways: U.S. 83, U.S. 77, U.S. 281
Nearest Bridge: Progreso/Nuevo Progreso International Bridge
Distance to Nuevo Progreso: 7 miles

MOTOR FREIGHT COMPANIES

Major Freight Carriers:

Nafta Motor Freight
Overnite Transportation
Central Freight
Motor Express
Roadway Express
ABF Freight
Yellow Freight
FedEx
UPS Store

AIR TRANSPORTATION

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BUS AND RAILROAD

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SHIPPING

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Tax Structure

Property Tax (Rate/$100 of assessed value)

	Rate	Assess. %
City of Weslaco:	.6967	100%
Hidalgo County:	.5900	100%
Weslaco ISD:	1.1397	100%
South Texas ISD:	.0492	100%
Hidalgo Co. Drainage Dist. #1	.0700	100%
So. Texas Community College	.1498	100%
Total Effective Tax Rate: $2.6431

Sales Tax
City: 2 %	County: 1.5%	State: 6.25%

State Taxes

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Education

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Weslaco Independent School District

Airport Drive Elementary School
A.N. Tony Rico Elementary School
Clecker-Heald Elementary School
Dr. R. R. Margo Elementary School
Justice Raul A. Gonzalez Elementary School
Louise Black Elementary School
Rodolfo "Rudy" Silva, Jr. Elementary School
Memorial Elementary School
North Bridge Elementary School
Sam Houston Elementary School
Beatriz G. Garza Middle School
Central Middle School
Dr. Armando Cuellar Middle School
Mary Hoge Middle School
Secondary Schools
Weslaco East High School-Grades 9-11
Weslaco High School Grades 9-12
South Palm Gardens High School -Grades 10-12

Alternative Schools

WISD Alternative School Grades 5-8
Horton AEP Campus Grades 9-12

Other Independent School Districts

Other Independent School Districts
IDEA Public Schools, Grades PreK-12
South Texas ISD, Grades 9-12

Other Schools

First Christian Academy, Grades PK 3-8
Mid Valley Christian School PK3-12th Grade Private School
San Martin de Porres Catholic School PK-6th Grade Private
Valley Grande Adventist Academy, Grades K -12
Horizon Montessori II, Grades PK- 3rd Public Charter School
Technology Education Charter High School, Grades 9-12

South Texas Educational Technologies ISD

Horizon Montessori II PK- 3rd Grade Public Charter School
Technology Education Charter High School Grades 9-12 Public School

Colleges and Universities

South Texas College
South Texas Vo-Tech
Valley Grande Institute for Academic Studies

Commercial/Industrial Services

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Health Facilties

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Recreational Facilties

Golf Courses:2
Swimming Pools: 2
Lakes: 0
Tennis Courts: 6
Parks: 6
Skateboard Park: 1
Hunting & Fishing Available: yes

Hotels & Churches

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Labor Market (December 2005)

Total Civilian Labor Force (MSA): 277,538
Total Civilian Labor Force (Weslaco): 12,860
Civilian Labor Force Unemployment Rate (MSA): 5.7%
Civilian Labor Force Unemployment Rate (Weslaco): 5.5%
Radius of Labor Drawing Area: 60 miles
Wage and/or Labor Survey Available: yes
Median Household Income: $26,573
Nearest MSA: McAllen-Edinburg-Mission
Distance to MSA: 15 miles
Wage and/or Labor Survey Available: yes

Major Area Employers

Employer	Product	Employees
Weslaco ISD	Education	2,825
Knapp Medical Center	Hospital	980
Woodcrafters	Manufacturer	541
Wal-Mart	Retail Dept. Store	455
H-E-B (3 locations)	Retail Grocery	407
City of Weslaco	Government	390
Payne Auto Group	Retail Auto Sales	330
South Texas College	Education-College	193
Foremost Paving	Construction	166
Texas A&M	Experiment Station; Extension Service; Citrus Center	147

Economic Dev. Contact Information

Martha Noell
Weslaco Area Chamber of Commerce
Phone: 956/968-2102
Toll-Free: 888/968-2102
Fax: 956/968-6451
Email: chamber@weslaco.com
Web Site: www.weslaco.com

Hernan Gonzalez
Weslaco Economic Dev. Corp.
Phone: 956/969-0838
Fax: 956/969-8611
Email: hgonzalez@weslacodc.com
Web Site: www.weslacodc.com

(Profile updated 5/13/2009)