PUBLIC HEARING MONDAY FOR CITY OF BRENHAM BUDGET
The public will have the opportunity Monday to comment on the City of Brenham’s proposed $73 million budget.
The Brenham City Council will hold a public hearing on the budget for the 2019-20 Fiscal Year. It will also hold the first vote on the proposed tax rate of 51.4 cents per $100 valuation.
The proposed budget balances out at $73 million, with notable expenses including $21.7 million in the general fund, $38.4 million for utilities, $2.9 million in debt service, and $1.9 million for the Brenham Community Development Corporation.
The budget does account for a 7 to 8 percent increase in electric rates, a 4 percent increase in water rates, and a new drainage fee of $3.75 a month for residential customers.
In a report to the council, Chief Financial Officer Carolyn Miller said the economic backdrop for Brenham’s proposed budget is “very favorable”. She said Washington County has seen “a resurgence in oil and gas business” and has an unemployment rate of 3.7 percent, while the city is seeing “healthy growth in the ad valorem tax base”.
The city’s proposed tax rate of 51.4 cents per $100, slightly lower than the current rate of 51.7 cents per $100, includes 32 cents for maintenance and operations and 19.4 cents for debt service. It is expected to generate nearly $650,000 in new revenue, due to increased property values and new properties on tax rolls.
The council will meet Monday morning at 8:30 a.m., at City Hall.
Unemployment rate at 3.7 percent is considered “favorable”? I see Agenda 2030 and Agenda 2050 in full effect and the whole population of AMERICA isnt going to know what hit them. Well all except the wealthy.
They call it “a Public Hearing” but after being at one I found out it’s already a done deal. It’s unfortunately a waste of time. Number one it would be nice to have these meetings at 5:30 when the working people of Brenham are off work. Then maybe more could be there. …Our paychecks and SS checks are the same but Property Taxes continues to increase. Always a “justification” but we are being left in the dark. Powers at be have already made decisions that greatly effect us.
Yes, It is all done behind closed doors. The elected City Council and Mayor only take into account what the City Manager and staff want, No regard for the taxpayer. City Council has again unanimously approved an increased budget, increased utility rate, addition of a sales tax on utilities and more pet projects that will cause more costs years down the road. Our elected council members, including the newly elected who promised to be our voice, has let their constituents down again. Business as usual. Wait until you see what they are planning to spend money on this coming fiscal year. NOT ONE COUNCIL MEMBER HAS A PROBLEM WITH TAKING MONEY FROM YOUR POCKET, NOT ONE…
When is the city of Brenham going to address all the broken and pot holed streets? They seem to ignore the obvious year after year!
You are absolutely right. Public works obviously changed about seven years ago. That is when the roads started to disintegrate. Nobody has cared ever since and now the city wants to annex more area when they can’t maintain what is existing. I can’t figure it out.
The City spends annually $360,000 on upgrading old streets and it appears more money is around the corner with roughly over $500,000 earmarked for 2020 and beyond. Then another $200,000 is dedicated annually to maintenance efforts related to potholes, minor sections and overlays. It has been a priority of the City of Brenham to dedicate more money to street maintenance and reconstruction of old streets. In the last 3 years over 40 streets have been reconstructed totaling 6.3 miles. Another 6 have been overlayed, All done in-house saving on construction costs. As you can see street reconstruction is costly. The city maintains slightly over 100 miles of roadways. There’s no doubt we are only maintaining not catching up. With extra dollars dedicated to street improvements we hope to reverse that trend. If you have concerns or issues that you are aware of please reach out to Dane Rau, Director of Public Works. (979) 337-7407. We will be glad to hear your concerns and see how those can be addressed. Our Street Dept. works extremely hard to act quickly and address issues. Please reach out.