CITY OF BRENHAM BEGINS BUDGET TALKS

  

The City of Brenham has begun work in earnest on the 2014-15 budget.

The City Council held its first budget workshop Monday, which featured an overview of the proposed spending plan from City Manager Terry Roberts.

Roberts told the council that the $73 million spending plan would include a utility rate increase but a tax rate decrease of almost eight cents.

Council members this morning kicked off workshops on the 2014-15 budget, with City Manager Terry Roberts giving his customary overview.

Roberts says this budget will include the transfer of emergency communications to Washington County and its $957,000 budget Oct. 1 in an exchange of services agreement.

Because of the transfer, the city will have to lower its tax rate by an estimated 7.85 cents, while Washington County will raise its tax rate to fund the communications department.

Roberts said this will be the first time a state law dealing with how those transfers will affect property taxes will be used, he added.

Roberts calls this proposed budget is “fiscally lean”, saying the present economy is not as strong as it was several years ago, and that sales tax revenues are expected to be a bit lower than in recent budgets.

The current tax rate is 56.32 cent—with the cut in communications funding, the rate would drop to 48.47 cents, a decrease of about 14 percent.

The 2014-15 budget projects expenditures of $72.9 million, about $9 million more than this year’s budget.

Roberts said the increase is mostly attributable to budgeted expenditures of $3.6 million in the capital projects fund for the construction projects of the library and animal shelter.