BRENHAM CITY COUNCIL ADOPTS 2022-23 BUDGET, TAX RATE
The Brenham City Council unanimously adopted the new fiscal year budget and levied its associated tax rate after a public hearing this (Monday) morning.
The $91.8 million budget raises an additional $1,510,287 in total property taxes from last year’s budget, up 19.2 percent. Of that amount, $293,274 is property tax revenue from new property added to the tax roll this year.
The new tax rate of $0.4737 per $100 valuation is lower than the previous rate of $0.4940, but is effectively a 19.44 percent increase in the rate due to higher property valuations.
One resident, John Young, asked why the city needs to increase the budget by nearly 20 percent, given the inflation and the uncertainty of the economy. Strategic Budget Officer Tim McRoberts said much of the added costs in the budget are for existing personnel.
McRoberts said aside from the mid-year additions of three firefighters and an airport manager, there are no new city employee positions, except for a new School Resource Officer funded by Brenham ISD. No cost of living adjustments are accounted for in the budget.
McRoberts said the city did not expect values to shoot up as much as they did. He said that, combined with the state’s cap of 3.5 percent on yearly property tax increases, made calculating the tax rate difficult, because if the city were to lower the tax rate by a significant amount, it would be very hard to bring it back up. He said the city is trying to protect its rate in order to maintain the same level of services.
Councilmember Atwood Kenjura said while no one knows what the economy will do, he wants to challenge city staff for next year to hold the line and avoid any type of increases like those seen this year.
The tax rate is made up of $0.3297 for maintenance and operations (M&O) and $0.1440 for interest and sinking (I&S). It sits above the no-new-revenue rate of $0.3966 and just shy of the voter approval rate of $0.4738.
The second reading of the budget and tax rate will take place at another council meeting on Thursday.
Also at today’s meeting, the council approved increasing tap fee prices for natural gas to offset rising supply and material costs. That includes adjusting the tap fee rates for services 1-inch through 4-inches; adding a per foot charge for gas service over 100 feet and for gas main extensions; adding a meter connection fee for installing a meter on a service with an existing meter loop; adding a meter upsizing fee; and instituting a fee for turning gas service on/off at customer request. General Manager of Public Utilities Debbie Gaffey clarified that this only affects tap fees, not gas consumption rates.
The council then held an executive session to discuss utility competitive matters regarding the city’s gas utility system and consult with the city attorney concerning Aviators Plus, LLC v. City of Brenham; Cause No. 27896; 21st Judicial District Court, Washington County. No action was taken.
Click here to view the agenda packet for Monday's meeting.