BRENHAM CITY COUNCIL APPROVES INITIAL ADOPTION OF 2020-21 BUDGET, LEVIES TAX RATE

FINAL ADOPTION OF BUDGET, TAX RATE AT COUNCIL'S MEETING SEPTEMBER 17TH

Josh Blaschke September 5, 2020

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The Brenham City Council approved first adoption of the budget and levied the tax rate for the 2020-21 Fiscal Year at its meeting this (Thursday) afternoon.

City Manager James Fisher gives an administrative report to the Brenham City Council at its meeting Thursday.

Following a public hearing with no comments, the council unanimously approved the first reading of an ordinance adopting a $68.4 million budget for the new fiscal year beginning October 1^st and ending September 30, 2021. The council also issued first reading of an ordinance levying property taxes for the new year at 50.4 cents per $100 valuation.

The new budget is balanced without the use of reserves, despite the city previously preparing to have to use $361,690 in reserves to balance the budget. The revised budget includes a personnel attrition factor which recognizes budget savings normally incurred from employee turnover. The attrition factor is the “gap” in pay and benefits from position vacancies. City Manager James Fisher said during a budget workshop prior to the council meeting that through attrition, the city will slowly fill positions accounted for in the budget and use the savings along the way to fill that gap.

Cindy Nash (left), co-chair of this year's Washington County READ with Lifetime Learning Brenham, holds a proclamation from the Brenham City Council declaring declaring September 8th through October 31st as the official period for the READ. Brenham Mayor Milton Tate holds this year's selection for the READ: "Getting Life" by Michael Morton.

The new budget accounts for an estimated increase of $179,536 in property tax revenue from last year’s budget, or 2.44 percent. Of that amount, $69,774 is tax revenue to be raised from new property added to the tax roll. The increase is due to the new property, as well as an increase in existing property valuations. The council approved an action to ratify the property tax increase reflected in the budget.

The new tax rate consists of 32 cents for maintenance and operations and 18.4 cents for debt service, and is one cent less than last year’s tax rate.

Final adoption of the budget and tax rate will come at the council’s meeting September 17^th.

Also at today’s meeting, the council:

Approved a resolution adopting a grant management policy for the city. The policy provides guidance for the city to follow for all grants—local, state, and federal—and provides more specific guidelines to be followed for federal grants.
Accepted the bid of Larry Young Paving, Inc. for 2020 Salem Road street improvements. The bid came out to $1,284,372, with the projected budget for the project coming out to $1.4 million.
Approved the Routine Airport Maintenance Program (RAMP) grant agreement with TxDOT for Fiscal Year 2021. The agreement allows the city to be reimbursed for 50 percent of the cost of the city’s monthly Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS) monitoring and annual AWOS maintenance contract, as well as 50 percent of the city’s replacement lamps for the Brenham Municipal Airport lighting system, herbicides, general maintenance, and a contingency for emergency repairs. The maximum for the grant is $100,000 for the fiscal year, with TxDOT matching the city’s budgeted funds of $50,000.
Issued a proclamation declaring September 8^th through October 31^st as the official period for the Washington County READ.

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