BRENHAM CITY COUNCIL TO VOTE ON ADOPTION OF BUDGET AND TAX RATE, SALES TAX AGREEMENT WITH ACADEMY
Votes on the City of Brenham’s budget and tax rate, as well as a sales tax agreement with the new Academy Sports + Outdoors, will lead today’s (Thursday) agenda for the Brenham City Council.
The upcoming year’s budget authorizes $89.5 million in expenditures and raises an additional $629,495, or 6.7 percent, in property tax revenue compared to the previous budget. Of that amount, $210,319 is revenue from new property added to the tax roll.
The proposed tax rate of $0.4584 per $100 valuation is made up of $0.3102 for maintenance and operations and $0.1482 for interest and sinking. It is below the past year’s tax rate of $0.4737 per $100, but because of higher property values, it is still effectively a 3.1 percent increase in the tax rate.
The council will then consider a Chapter 380 agreement that provides sales tax reimbursement to the Academy store, with $1.5 million in reimbursement divided between the city, Washington County and the Brenham Community Development Corporation.
Per the agreement, Academy’s annual share of sales tax revenue will be 80 percent throughout the term, which ends on December 2, 2033 or once the city has reimbursed $500,000, whichever comes first.
In other items, the council will seek to move forward with the city’s airport master plan by sending it to TxDOT’s Aviation Division and the Federal Aviation Administration for review. Once the document is approved, it will come back to the council for formal adoption.
- Act on a resolution to repeal a prior resolution approving an interfund loan between the city’s sanitation and water funds to repay an advancing line of credit with Bank of Brenham for the raw water intake structure repair project. In July 2020, the city approved a $5 million promissory note with Bank of Brenham for an advancing line of credit for interim financing to pay for the project. With the advancing line of credit maturity date of July 1, 2021 and outstanding balance of $1,351,075, an interfund loan was approved by the city council in June 2021 to repay the bank. The interfund loan was for $1 million, with the remaining balance of $351,075 being paid for with water fund reserves. According to the agenda packet, city staff recommends the remaining $815,000 in principal balance of the loan be forgiven, given the immediate needs of water capacity expansion for the city and in order to reduce the impact that capital expenses from the expansion have on water rates.
- Consider a resolution repealing and rescinding previous resolutions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. In June, Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 29, prohibiting local governments form implementing or enforcing COVID-preventative measures. The city issued a local disaster declaration in March 2020 consistent with Abbott’s, and the city council last renewed the declaration in September 2020 but never officially rescinded it.
- Hold public hearings and vote on two items recommended for approval last week by the Brenham Planning and Zoning Commission: a rezoning request for 307, 309 and 401 Peabody Street from B-2 Commercial, Research and Technology Use to B-1 Local Business/Residential Mixed Use; and a specific use permit for Powerfam Washes, LLC to build an automatic car wash on a vacant 2-acre tract of land on the east side of the Highway 105 – Sabine Street intersection, zoned for B-1 use.
- Hold an executive session to consult with the city attorney regarding Aviators Plus v. City of Brenham; Cause No. 37896; 21st Judicial District Court, Washington County.
The council will meet today at 1 p.m. at Brenham City Hall.
Click here to view the agenda packet for today's meeting.