a. First Lady Michelle Obama urges states to follow Texas' lead and help military spouses - Click here: MILITARY SPOUSES for full story.
b. Copperas Cove Forming Youth Advisory Council - The city's parks and recreation department is seeking teen input on the city's first-ever Youth Advisory Council which will consist of 15 - 20 high school students who will provide opinions to the City Council about the community needs and wants of the youth.
c.. Military Personnel Will Start the New Year With a Raise in Their Housing Allowance.
Starting Jan. 1,
Fort Hood soldiers will see a near 7 percent jump in their Basic Housing Allowance, separate from their regular paycheck. That's 5 percentage points higher than the nationwide average announced last week by the Defense Department.
Nationally, allowance rates are adjusted each year based on housing costs in a given area, as determined by the Defense Department. Rates vary widely by location, the rank of service members and whether or not they have dependents.
Soldiers who reside on-post won't benefit from the increase since on-post housing fees are always equivalent to the current allowance rate. Service personnel living off-post are free to use their allowance however they wish.
In
Killeen, a private with dependents will get $1,023 monthly, up $78 from $945 last year.
A single private will get $801, up from $753. Each enlisted rank will see a similar increase in pay, up to sergeants major with dependents, whose monthly allowance will go from $1,416 to $1,539.
Officers' adjustments are similar in scale. The housing allowance for a second lieutenant with dependents will increase from $1,026 to $1,074. Brigadier generals and higher with dependents will rise from $1,704 to $1,878 a month.
In 2011, national allowance rates fell slightly from the year before, including in the
Fort Hood area. They'll continue to fall in 2012, with the national average set at 2 percent, for depressed housing communities, including
Southern California.
The current market is a particularly opportune time to buy in
Killeen because interest rates are historically low (lowest in over 20 years !!) and home prices have stayed steady year-to-year.
The median home price in the Killeen-Fort Hood multiple listing service was about $120,000 in 2010 and through Dec. 1 of this year.
Service personnel also will receive a 1.6 percent raise in salary starting Jan. 1.