CITY OF BRENHAM UNVEILS PROPOSED BUDGET FOR NEW FISCAL YEAR

  

The City of Brenham has finalized its budget work sessions, and has released its proposed budget for review.

The roughly $75 million budget for the new fiscal year is still in the preliminary stages, with the final review by city council and record vote on August 1st.

City Manager James Fisher said the city is “at a pivotal time with growth and development”. He said city leadership needed to “think outside the box” in this planning process if they wanted to give Brenham citizens the best quality of life possible.

Fisher said several key aspects were taken into consideration when planning the budget, including the continued growth in property taxes, which are the source for the city’s General Fund. With the growth, the city is proposing a lower tax rate of $0.514 per $100 valuation, compared to the past $0.517 per $100 valuation.

Fisher said the city is also setting the stage for “vigorous sales tax growth”. As the sales tax growth is realized, the city could become less reliant on property taxes, therefore leading to an eventual decrease in property tax rates for citizens.

One proposed change would call for the addition of a sales tax to residential electric and gas customers. Currently, the city only charges electric and gas sales tax to commercial customers.  Brenham is one of 72 cities statewide with municipal-owned utilities.

The city is also proposing a “modest rate change” to cover the cost of electric and water services, as well as investment in infrastructure to maintain systems reliability. Fisher noted the city’s water rates have remained the same since 2008, and residential and commercial electric rates since 2003.  Small and large industrial electric rates had an increase in 2014.

In addition, the city is proposing the addition of a drainage fee to address current and future drainage improvements, to protect residential and commercial properties from potential flooding events. Fisher said research indicated many cities have successfully used this fee structure, which can only be used for drainage projects and not diverted for any other purpose.

Fisher said the growth and development diversity of the city may mean approximately $16 more per month for the average homeowner. He said these proposed changes, however, would allow for a balanced and stable budget.  He said they will also cover improvements for drainage, electric, water, and road infrastructure, while keeping the “continued exceptional city services”.

The community is encouraged to attend public hearings for the budget on August 14th and September 5th, to discuss the tax and fee changes.  Citizens are also encouraged to set up a time to visit with Fisher by emailing jfisher@cityofbrenham.org, or by calling 979-337-7590.

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9 Comments

  1. Did council approve their newly invented double taxation $16.00 monthly fee and unscrupulous sales tax on the residential utility customers? I need to know so I know this information at election time. I wish I would have had this info prior to the last election. If a 75 million dollar budget cannot be properly managed to avoid these unscrupulous shenanigans; the voters need to know.

  2. The electrical department is the one that always has been profitable. Their financials
    should be reviewed more closely before rates increases. Maybe all the vehicles operated by the City with only one person per truck should be reviewed.

  3. Quit thinking “Outside the Box” and start thinking with common sense! Reducing the budget is the only way to save taxpayers money! Business as usual….

  4. .The city property owners already pay city taxes for city maintenance. A $16 per month fee on top of that is double taxation. Sounds to me like the city hasn’t managed tax dollars properly since they have invented this new fee for utility customers. City citizens also pay county taxes for road repair. County property owners do not pay city street taxes, but they still drive on city streets. There is no equity in this fee. Maybe the city should get some of these county tax dollars that are paid by city property owners. This is not a city tax payer problem. This is a government money management problem. Maybe the city should keep the three thousandths of the percent decrease or just raise the taxes three thousandths of a percent to help cover their mismanagement of the past taxes. Especially, since the city manager thinks this is so impressive too show this decrease in taxes. I sure hope the city elected officials see how ridiculous and unfair this socialistic fee is on the citizens of Brenham. Just because other cities have done this injustice does not make it right. It is wrong.

  5. Sounds to me like every residence is getting ready to get slammed with astronomical fees. With this new $16 per month drainage fee and all increases on all utilities and a new sales tax on the existing utility fees and new sales tax on all the increased utility cost. Just watch out. I bet the majority of us will be paying another $100 + a month. The three thousandths percent of a property tax reduction is a joke when looking at the other increase cost of living.

    1. If all is true. My recommendation is to move outside the city limits on your own land and get your own well dug or continue to gripe, complain year after year about nothing you have control over! Just be thankful we live in a free country of the home and the brave! We are truly lucky to have our freedom so the few dollars a month is fair in my opinion to keep everyone jobs and the world go round! Thanks for keeping Washington Co Beautiful!

      1. It is obvious that Washington County was beautiful long before it became a ridiculously saturated big government with a 75 million dollar budget. If you don’t remember that then you are part of the problem. It wasn’t too many years ago when the city budget was a quarter of that amount. Please don’t blame it on inflation; that would only make your justification more Ignorant.

      2. There is not a $16 drainage fee……you may want to reread the article to clarify before you carry on

      3. I must acknowledge that we are indeed blessed to live in a country where freedom is valued and we have much to be thankful for. However, it is the role of the people to hold governing bodies accountable for their decisions. What some may see as “griping or complaining” is in fact one of the roles the public is supposed to play. Being concerned about adding more fees and taxes to an already heavy burden is perfectly appropriate. You may have also noticed that the “if you don’t like it you can leave” thought process is very out of favor in the media these days. I personally think if you don’t like it you can speak out, vote, run for office, support new candidates who share your views, advocate for change, and yes, post on media websites and social media. Instead of turning tail and running, standing up like “The Truth” did is one of the things we should be doing!