City Manager Scott Sellers posted an incomplete budget proposal for FY 2015-16 on the city’s web site Tuesday night. It made absolutely no mention of a proposed property tax rate, it added five police officers to the city’s force, it decreased the amount spent on street maintenance and, at a time when the city desperately needs to add more (non-retail) businesses, it significantly slashes city funds earmarked for economic development.
Chief of Staff Jerry Hendrix told me "We won't have the property tax rate until we receive the certified tax rolls on July 31."
Although it was difficult to determine the total budget figures, Sellers's proposal hikes the General Fund, the money used to operate the city, by a whopping 31 percent, from $16.7 million for this current fiscal year, to $21.96 million for the upcoming one. The budget did forecast a 22.3 percent increase in property tax revenue during the upcoming fiscal year as well as a 29.56 percent increase in sales tax collections.
The budget, as posted this evening, also contained no manager’s message or budget highlights section in addition to no reference of a proposed tax rate, but wading through it did reveal that the biggest chunk of new money, $4.7 million, will be needed for the operations at the wastewater treatment plant, once the city purchases the facility.
The garbage collection fee will increase an average of 96 cents per month and starting with the next fiscal year and there will also be a one-time $50 fee for owning "miniature livestock." I’m assuming that has something to do with chickens, but I cant’ be sure.
Sellers’s proposed budget will increase the number of Kyle police officers from 30 to 35, which still comes out to only one police officer for every one thousand persons here. The number for a city the size of Kyle should be 1.8. Sellers also recommended a code enforcement officer, a position not funded in previous budgets, be included in the Police Department’s proposed budget.
Even though the city’s property tax burden falls more heavily on Kyle homeowners than on the homeowners of any other city in Hays County, Sellers budget calls for spending 29.5 percent less than last year’s budget for economic development. The budget cuts $3,300 out of Economic Development’s travel budget and, although much of that had been spent in the past in attending conventions designed to attract bad fast food restaurants to the city, there does not seem to be any desire to refocus that money in attracting business concerns or start-ups, even though we are located less than 25 miles from a major research university and a city known for spawning start-ups. Yet $2,000 was added to the Parks and Recreation travel budget.
Apparently the city is in dire need of new computers, because Sellers is recommending spending $84,000 over last year’s budget on computer hardware and $11,492 more in overall computer expenses.
Although the condition of the city’s streets seem to be at the top of "the concern list" of Kyle residents, the way I read it (and this is where a manager’s summary could have come in handy) this budget calls for a 21.18 percent reduction from last year for street maintenance overall and it looks like absolutely nothing has been allocated for street repairs for the next fiscal year. Now, that has nothing to do with the road bond projects, just overall maintenance on the city’s other streets.
That’s the highlights, or lowlights, if you will, that I could collect from a quick perusal of what the city put on line. Hopefully will get some additional information and clarifications soon, perhaps even before Saturday’s council budget workshop.
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