City manager recommends whopping budget increase

 City manager Scott Sellers told the City Council Saturday he is going to recommend the adoption of what he said will be the the largest budget in the city's history “by a significant margin” for the next fiscal year — a budget with a dollar amount that is 28.4 percent greater than the current budget. The overwhelming majority of his proposed budget — 70 percent of it — would be devoted to infrastructure improvements.

A corresponding property tax rate that will accompany the budget will not be known until July 25, when the Hayes Consolidated Appraisal District issues its certified property valuations. The proposed budget Sellers offered did, however, project a 16.64 percent increase in property tax revenues which could, under state law,  force a reduction in the property tax rate. Sellers did say the new budget includes a possible 6 percent increase in water rates and a 2.51 percent increase for trash collection.

“We have that largest budget in our history that we are presenting to you by a significant margin,” Sellers said. “And you’ll see the majority of this is anticipated CIP (Capital Improvement Projects or infrastructure) expenditures.”

Sellers proposed a $172.4 million budget, of which $120.9 million will be set aside for Capital Improvement Projects. This year the city is operating under a budget of $134.2 million.

There was little pushback from council members on the proposed budget, but that could be because they only received Sellers’ proposal two days earlier. It’s quite possible that between now and July 31, the date when Sellers will present his final draft along with the proposed property tax rate, individual council members will study the document Sellers talked about Saturday and have additional feedback ready for that meeting at the end of July.

The budget includes adding 18 new positions to the city’s payroll, five of which would be designated for the Police Department, including a detective and a narcotics investigator. Parks and Public Works would each add four new positions, the City Manager’s office would add two and Human Resources, Environmental Services and Engineering would each add one.

Mayor Travis Mitchell questioned whether the city’s planning department was adequately staffed to handle Kyle’s growth. That department currently has a staff of three,

“I know we have a Comprehensive Plan in the budget,” the mayor said, “but I don’t think that plan is going to solve the problems of the Planning Department. If I’ve learned anything through the years it’s that the folks we bring in as consultants don’t understand our city. Our Planning Department understands our city in detail. So if there’s any group I want to fund to help us think about the future and planning, it would be the Planning Department.”