The City of Wichita Falls shall have the power:
(a)
To acquire property, within or without the city, in fee simple or lesser interest or estate, by purchase, gift, [device] appropriation, lease, or lease with privilege to purchase, for any municipal purpose and may sell, lease, hold, manage, and control such property as though a natural person;
(b)
To furnish all local public service of whatever nature;
(c)
To purchase, hire, construct, own, maintain, and operate or lease local public utilities, and to acquire by condemnation or otherwise, within or without the corporate limits, property necessary for any such purpose;
(d)
To grant local public utility franchises and regulate the exercise thereof;
(e)
To assess, levy and collect taxes for general and special purposes on all subjects or objects which the city may lawfully tax;
(f)
To borrow money on the faith and credit of the city by the issue or sale of bonds or notes of the city;
(g)
To appropriate the money of the city for all lawful purposes;
(h)
To create, provide for, construct, regulate and maintain all things in the nature of public work and improvements;
(i)
To levy and collect assessments for local improvements on property benefited thereby;
(j)
To license and regulate persons, corporations and associations engaged in any business, occupation, profession or trade;
(k)
To define, prohibit, abate, suppress and prevent within the City, and for a distance of five thousand (5,000) feet outside its limits, all nuisances and causes thereof and all things detrimental to the health, morals, safety, convenience and welfare of its inhabitants;
(l)
To make all needful regulations, applicable within and without the city, for securing and preserving the purity of its water supply;
(m)
To provide for such inspection service within and without the city as may be necessary to ensure the purity and wholesomeness of food products sold within the city;
(n)
To do all things necessary or desirable to secure and promote the public health;
(o)
To regulate the construction, location, height and material used in all buildings and the maintenance and occupancy thereof;
(p)
To regulate and control the use, for whatever purpose of the streets and other public places of the city;
(q)
To create, establish, organize and abolish departments and offices, and fix the salaries and compensation of all officers and employees;
(r)
To make and enforce local public safety, sanitary and other regulations;
(s)
To fund projects which promote the economic development of the city;
(t)
To pass such ordinances as may be expedient for maintaining and promoting the peace, safety, good government and welfare of the city and for the performance of the functions thereof;
(u)
To exercise in addition to the powers enumerated in this section, all powers that now are, or hereafter may be, granted to municipalities by the constitution or laws of the State of Texas; and all the powers of the city whether expressed or implied, shall be exercised and enforced in the manner prescribed in this Charter, or when not so prescribed then in such manner as may be provided by ordinance or resolution of the city council;
(v)
To have and exercise all of the powers, rights, privileges and immunities of every character and description whatsoever conferred upon and granted to cities of more than five thousand [5,000] inhabitants to adopt and amend their charters by Chapter 147, page 307, of the General Laws of Texas passed by the thirty-third Legislature of said State in 1913, and approved April 7th, 1913, as well as any and all amendments which may be adopted.
(Ordinance 34-2020, sec. 4(Meas. 1), adopted 6/16/20, ref. 11/3/20)