LAKE JACKSON — The budget is balanced, debt has been reduced and city employees could be looking at a raise.
City Manager Modesto Mundo presented the administration’s budget outline to the City Council during its meeting Monday. It shows a drop in the proposed tax rate, raises for city employees and a priority on infrastructure. That includes a significant bump in utilty rates to help pay for lift station upgrades.
“Overall, the budget is balanced,” Mundo said. “We have lowered the tax rate based on appraisal values; they have gone up slightly from last year. And debt service has been reduced.”
Mundo recommended a 13.5 percent increase to the utility rates due to anticipated debt for a pair of major lift station projects.
“The average utility bill today is $67.29, it would go up to $76.47, mostly due to debt service,” Mundo said.
The council acknowledged that while this increase is necessary for infrastructure investments, to ease some of the burden, they are working on a five-year plan to manage the costs.
The preliminary budget allocates nearly $4.9 million for capital projects, largely focused on the city’s wastewater infrastructure. The largest expense is a $20 million proposal for revenue bonds to fund repairs to the main lift station. In two years, Mundo said the council can expect a proposal for another $20 million for work on Lift Station 20.
Last year, the city used $540,000 toward supporting public safety, police and fire services. It also includes pay increases for employees as the city tries to keep its salaries competitive.
“We had a compensation analysis, and the recommendation was a 5 percent increase in the first year, then 4 percent and 3 percent last year,” Mundo said. “We increased the range 4 percent. This year, we weren’t quite able to budget 5 percent.”
The budget also includes provisions for a merit increase of 2 percent to 3 percent.
In terms of city health care, premiums have been reduced by 3 percent. The reduction won’t compromise coverage, Mundo said, thanks to negotiations with the current provider, resulting in lower rates.
Financial prospects are looking good, with the general fund revenues expected at $27 million, $482,000 above the budgeted revenues, Mundo said. This increase is largely due to strong interest earnings.
Although the property tax rate will go down overall, Mundo is recommending council adopt the voter-approval rate of 30.94 cents per $100 of appraised value. The current rate is 33.74 per $100.
“I’m proposing a tax rate increase to the voter-approval rate, which is the highest rate we can approve,” Mundo said.
This number is likely to change a bit after final property values are in at the end of the month, with higher appraisals expected to more than offset the rate cut for most property owners, he said. This increase would translate to a $15 annual increase for the owner of a home valued at $293,000, which is the city average, Mundo said.
A workshop is scheduled for Aug. 3 to go more in-depth on the numbers presented. Anyone from the public is welcome to attend, take notes and ask questions.
Cynthia Zelaya is a reporter for The Facts. Contact her at 979-237-0151.